The Girl Who Hated All
by RuthlessStyleFreak
Summary: Chapter Eight Up! When the Andromeda comes across a very young, and very strange, girl, they have no choice but to allow her to come with them. Harper soon discovers her secret; unfortunately, no one believes him...R&R!
1. Chapter One

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to "Andromeda" or its characters.  I am simply borrowing them, I swear!  

A/N: This is my first "Andromeda" fic, so be kind!  This idea came to me while reading Stephen King's (_GREAT_ author) Carrie.  Feedback is greatly appreciated, and suggestions are _very_ helpful to me.  Thanks much!

Title: "The Girl who Hated All"

Summary: When the Andromeda comes across a very young, and very strange young girl, they have no choice but to allow her to come with them. Harper soon discovers her secret; too bad no one believes him…

Genre: Supernatural/Horror

Rating: PG-13 for language and supernatural occurrences.

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**Chapter One**

"Remind me one last time _why_ we have to visit this place?" griped Harper, as he and Dylan stood side-by-side, leaning against the Maru's walls.

"Because, Mr. Harper, there have been some unusual occurrences on that planet for several days now; something even the Andromeda cannot interpret," explained Dylan, as the doors to the main deck slid open.  "_That is why."_

Harper cocked his head at his captain before returning to his post.  "How close are we to the atmosphere, Rommie?" asked Dylan.

"Nearly ten kilometers," replied Rommie.

Dylan nodded.  "Take us in."  

The Maru slowly neared the planet; the clouds underneath the atmosphere were so thick that the crew was nearly blinded by the sheer whiteness that they projected.  "What planet is this?" asked Harper.

"This is the planet of Mykenae.  I cannot find very much information about this planet, although there does not appear to be any life on it whatsoever," replied Rommie.  "We are about twenty feet from the surface; prepare for a rough landing."

As soon as the Maru touched the ground, the earth around it collapsed, causing the Maru to skid . . .

"Rommie, report!" commanded Dylan, his hands grabbing onto any support they could find.

"It appears that the surface of Mykenae is not stable.  We are slowing."  The Maru slowly slid to a complete stop, sinking only feet beneath the surface.

The Maru took one last lurch before all movement stopped.  No one moved for a matter of seconds, making sure that the ship had finished moving.  "Okay," said Beka, breaking the silence, "are you guys ready to go?"

"Already?" asked Harper.  Beka raised her eyebrow at him.  "I mean, yeah," he said, quickly.  "I'm ready to go!" he added, feigning enthusiasm.

"Okay, let's move out," stated Dylan, making towards the door, Beka and Harper directly behind him.  

_On the Andromeda . . ._

Tyr stood at the controls, looking at the screen.  Trance was standing beside him.  He looked down at Trance.  "Why did Dylan find it so important to travel here?" he asked, staring ahead.

"Rommie said that there had been some rather bizarre happenings on this planet, Mykenae, she called it?"

"Such as . . .?"

"Something she couldn't detect; she said there was some kind of . . . force, I believe she put it, destroying every trace of life that was on this planet.  Apparently, the only remaining or existing organisms on this planet are the trees and plants." 

Tyr nodded, although he still did not understand the meaning of their coming to this planet.  It seemed to him that Dylan was letting too many disturbances distract him from the rebuilding of the Commonwealth.  

He sighed heavily; he would never comprehend all of the doings that Dylan did, and did not obsess over it any longer . . .

_Meanwhile, on Mykenae . . ._

Dylan, Beka, Rommie, and Harper were trudging through a vast grouping of trees.  The closest thing that Harper could relate it to was the rainforests back on Earth, except it was deathly quiet; the only sound was a continuous dripping of water onto the dark-green leaves, which broke the silence every so often. __

_Plop.  _A large drop of water landed onto Harper's head, sending a chill up his spine as the drop slowly slid down the back of his neck and down his back . . .

"Harper?" said Beka, looking back at the engineer.

Harper jumped slightly at the sound of his name.  "Uh, yeah, Boss?" he replied, attempting to sound calm and collected, but failing miserably at both; there was something about the emptiness of the forest that worried him.  He assumed that, on an entire planet, there would be _some_ form of life.  

"Harper," repeated Beka, "c'mon kid, catch up."

He quickly snapped out of the daze he had been in, and noticed that his group had gotten twenty or thirty feet ahead of him.  He took off into a sprint, trying to catch up with them. He looked at the ground, trying to rid himself of a cramp in his side.  'This is what happens when you're stuck on a ship for so long without much time to just run,' he thought.  

When he looked back up, Rommie, Beka, and Dylan had . . . disappeared.  Vanished.  He squinted his eyes, and felt a twitch of uneasiness wash over him.  "Oh, great," he mumbled, and continued to run, looking all around at the trees around him, seeing only the green stillness. 

Suddenly, as he looked to his left, he saw a person, a young girl, about six years old, standing among the trees, staring at him with bright green eyes.  Harper was so transfixed on her eyes that he did not look where he was heading; his foot snagged onto a loose root, and he went sprawling onto the ground.

He groaned in pain, laying on his stomach on the cool, wet dirt.  Remembering the little girl he had seen, Harper pushed himself back up into a standing position.  He spun around on his heel and dashed towards the area where he had seen the girl.  

Harper arrived at the spot and stopped abruptly; the girl was gone.  Had he imagined her?  No, it was impossible.  She had been there, and those eyes.  He shuddered, remembering her bright green eyes.  They had been such an intense color, that they had nearly hurt to look into.

"Harper, what the hell are you doing?"  Harper spun around to come face-to-face with Beka, who was looking back at him, anger showing vividly in her eyes.  After a moments silence, Beka said again, "I repeat, 'what the hell are you doing?'"

Harper opened his mouth.  He wondered if there was any chance that they'd believe his if he said that there had been a young girl standing not five feet from where they were standing that minute.  "W-well, see . . ." he stammered, shrugging his shoulders.

"Yes?"

"I was trying to catch up with you guys, right?  But then you disappeared, so I ran to find you, and I saw this . . . this girl."

"Another girl?" mocked Dylan, shaking his head.

"No, not _that_ kind of a girl; a little girl, you know.  About five or six, I don't know . . ." he trailed off, knowing how ridiculous he sounded.  "Then," he continued, finding his voice, "I was looking at her, and she was looking at me, and then I tripped and . . . now she's gone."

Beka held up her hands.  "Wait, wait, you _fell_?  Harper, are you sure that you didn't just imagine this girl?"

"First of all, boss, I fell _after I saw her, and second, she was __there!"_

"Impossible, Harper," protested Rommie.  "As I explained, there are no living forms on this entire planet; so, there could not have been a girl."

"Rommie, she was very small.  Is there a chance that you _couldn't_ have picked up her presence?"

"No," replied Rommie, simply, crossing her arms.

Harper sighed deeply.  He should have known; something so absurd can't get by without a better explanation than "I saw her."  "Okay then, you guys are right," stated Harper.  "I just imagined her, she never existed, let's go."

Although they were all slightly shocked at Harper's acceptance he had been wrong, Dylan, Beka, and Rommie did not push the matter further.  The four of them continued to hike through the forest, looking for the slightest evidence of why the planet was unoccupied, but, after an hour, continued to be unsuccessful.  

Dylan, who was leading, glanced back at his crew members, all of whom were looking rather flustered and irritated.  "Rommie, has there been _any sign of why this planet is so empty?" Dylan asked._

"Not yet, Dylan," replied Rommie.

Dylan nodded and turned his head foreword.  Suddenly, Dylan came to a full stop, causing Beka to crash into him, Rommie to crash into Beka, and, finally, Harper to crash into Rommie.  "Dylan, what's wrong?" asked Beka, releasing herself from her captain's back.

"Harper, you say that you saw a little girl?" asked Dylan, ignoring Beka.

"Yeah, Boss, why?"

"Look," stated Dylan, pointing up the road of them, where a small girl was standing, her arms at her side.  She looked at them, her strikingly green eyes causing Beka and Rommie to look at her as well.  

Dylan began to walk towards the girl.  As soon as he reached her, he kneeled down in front of her.  "Hello," he greeted, softly.

She looked at him for a second.  "Hello," she replied.  Her voice was small and sweet.

"What's your name?"

"Agrona."

"Agrona, where did you come from?"

"I don't know," she replied.  "All I remember is that I was just . . . here."

Dylan nodded, not really understanding.  "Do you know why there is no one here?" he asked.

She nodded.  "They died.  _It_ got them."

"What's 'it'?" asked Dylan, getting slightly annoying having to ask so many questions.

Agrona shrugged.  "Who are you?" she asked, chewing on a piece of her dark-brown hair.

"I'm Captain Dylan Hunt, from the Andromeda."

"Oh, I've heard of you.  My daddy said that you would come."

"'Your daddy'?" repeated Dylan, his eyes narrowing.

"Yeah, he said that you would take me away from here before _It gets me, too."  _

Dylan stood up, looking down at the small girl in front of him.  He couldn't leave her here, all alone.  "Well, alright," he said, breaking down.  "You can come with us, until we find someone who knows who you are."

Agrona's face broke into a large smile.  "Thank you!" she exclaimed.

Dylan nodded.  "Come on; let's go back to the Maru."  Agrona nodded and followed Dylan back to where Rommie, Beka, and Harper were standing, a confused look upon each of their faces.  "Crew, this is Agrona; she'll be staying on the Andromeda with us until we find someone to take her.  Agrona, this is Beka, Rommie, and Harper," he said, gesturing to each of them as he introduced them.

Beka and Rommie smiled at the young girl, each wondering how Rommie's sensors were unable to pick her up.

Agrona looked at each of them.  As her eyes met Harper's once again, she smiled an odd sort of smile.  "I like you," she said, continuing to smile.

Harper chuckled nervously.  Sure, the girl was cute, but there was something about her that made him feel uneasy.  Harper barely heard Dylan say to head back to the Maru.  He watched as the girl began to walk behind Dylan, her eyes fixed upon his.  Before she turned back around, her eyes flashed, and another wave of fear was sent throughout Harper's body.  As he followed behind Rommie, he could still feel his heart pounding.  The look she had given him . . . it made him think of death.

When they arrived at the Maru, Harper could do nothing more than stare at the girl as Dylan told her where to sit for the "ride back to the Andromeda."  'Maybe I should never have told them about her,' he thought, leaning against the wall next to the door.  'Then we could have just left that place, and never have met her.  I can tell that there is something wrong with her, but no one believed me when I said she existed, so who's going to believe me when I say that a little girl is, I don't know, _demon-possessed_?'

"Agrona, would you like to see where you're going to be staying?" asked Trance.  Agrona nodded, following Trance out of the door.  As she passed by, Agrona's hand lightly touched Harper's arm.  As soon as it touched his flesh, his body went stiff, and there was a bright flash . . .

_Falling . . ._

_Red . . ._

_Darkness . . ._

An assortment of horrible thoughts went flashing through his mind, before the Maru's main deck appeared again.  His body relaxed again, and he slouched against the wall once again, rubbing his arm.  'What just happened?' he asked himself, letting his arm fall back down to his side.  'What is it about that girl that bothers me so much?  And why wasn't Rommie able to detect her on the planet?'

His unanswered questions remained unanswered as he felt the Maru begin to rise and leave the planet where they had been sure that no one had been on . . .

No one alive, at least . . .

_To Be Continued . . ._

A/N: What do you think so far?  Please review and tell me!  Thanks, much appreciated.


	2. Chapter Two

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to "Andromeda" or its characters.  I am simply borrowing them, I swear!  

A/N: Thanks for the reviews!  And thanks to starfish for pointing out my mistake.  I have fixed that mistake.

Title: "The Girl Who Hated All"

Summary: When the Andromeda comes across a very young, and very strange young girl, they have no choice but to allow her to come with them. Harper soon discovers her secret; too bad no one believes him…

Genre: Supernatural/Horror

Rating: PG-13 for language and supernatural occurrences.

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**Chapter Two**

Trance returned from showing Agrona to her new room alone.  "Hey, where's the kid?" asked Harper.

"In her room," replied Trance.  "She fell right to sleep.  Poor thing must've been out there all alone for days."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, before she fell asleep, she said that a few days prior to today, her father died this . . . 'unusual death.'  I could tell that she was getting rather shaken up by the memory of it, so I didn't push her to talk about it any longer, but she _did _tell me that the last words her father said to her were '_Ubiti svi tko znati što ti si.'_  I don't know exactly what that means, though."

"Huh," grunted Harper, uneasily.  He inhaled deeply.  He could feel in his gut that something was bizarre about that girl.  Maybe he was simply being paranoid, but he couldn't shake away the memory of what had happened when that girl's hand had brushed him; his heart was _still pounding uncontrollably from all of the images that had flashed before him._

"So," he said, shuffling nervously, "what are we going to do with her until we, you know, find her a place to stay?"

"We're going to take care of her, obviously."

"Well, yeah, but . . . um, what if there's an attack or something?"  Trance rolled her eyes.  "Hey, it happens, you know," he retorted, defensively.

"Uh-huh . . . in case of an _attack," she said, mockingly, "we will lock her room and secure it, okay?"  Harper nodded.  "Wow, I'm surprised that you care so much for the safety of this girl."_

Harper chuckled, anxiously.  He watched as Trance turned around and walked away.  'Actually, I care a _little bit more about the safety of __us," he thought, slowly shaking his head, and returning to his post._

He looked over and looked at Rommie.  "Hey, Rommie?" he said, a question in his voice.

She looked over at him.  "Yes Harper?"

"Uhh," he mumbled, uncomfortably.  "Do you know why that you couldn't pick up that, umm, girl on your sensors?" he asked, his eyes darting around, as though Agrona was in the room listening to him at that very minute.

Rommie stared at him for a second.  She did not know why Harper was acting so anxious.  "I'm not sure; maybe because she was so small, I was unable to pick her up."  Harper nodded.  "Why?" asked Rommie, cocking an eyebrow at him.

"I don't know . . . I was just, uhh, wondering, so that I knew that nothing was wrong with your system or something . . ." His voice trailed off.  He was aware of how uneasy and ridiculous he sounded, but he hoped that no one would say anything about it.

"Uh-huh," replied Rommie, in either a confused or sarcastic tone of voice, Harper couldn't tell.

"So, is she asleep, still?" he asked, attempting to change the subject, slightly, at least.  

"Yes."  Rommie turned away from him, still unsure as to _why_ Harper seemed so uptight about that child.

"I'm going to go to the, umm, machine shop, okay?" he stated, to no one in particular.  He turned on his heel and began to walk down the ship's hallway, towards the machine shop.  

Looking ahead, he saw the door to Agrona's room.  Harper noticed that the door was cracked open the slightest bit.  As he neared her room, he could actually hear her breathing and mumbling in her sleep.

He was about to walk past her room when something in the room caught his eye; a small, yellow light.  He walked quietly up to the doorway and peeked inside

Agrona was lying in a bed, the covers pulled up to her chin.  Harper noticed that the faint light was coming from beneath the covers, where Agrona's stomach was.  The light moved up and down as the small girl breathed steadily.

His eyes widened.  "God, what is that?" he whispered.  He slapped his hand over his mouth as Agrona stirred.  She rolled over on her left side, facing Harper.  Her eyes were still closed, so Harper removed his hand from his mouth.

 "_Ubiti svi tko znati što ti si," he heard her mumble, in a deeper voice, one that should have belonged to a grown man.  _

"I'm trying, Papa.  I've done good so far, haven't I?" she said, in her normal voice.  Harper could do nothing but stare, his mouth agape, as Agrona seemed to have a conversation with her . . . father? 

"_Neki dana posada je proistjecanje što ti si. _Ubiti njemu!_ " the deeper voice said.  _

"Who, Papa, who?  I haven't done anything to make them suspect . . ."  

Harper's heart began to thump wildly in his chest.  He had been right, something _was wrong with her . . . he just wished he could understand everything she was saying._

"_Inženjer_," said the deeper voice.  

"What, you mean Harper?" she asked.  Harper's eyes widened at the sound of his name.  "But how-?"

"_On je promatranje te zatim.__ Budan!"  Agrona's eyes snapped open, and Harper staggered backwards, falling to the floor with a grunt._

Harper heard Agrona rise out of her bed and began to walk towards the door.  He quickly stood up and dashed down the hall to his machine shop.  He sat down on a stool, rubbing his forehead.  What had just happened?  He played the entire scene in his mind about ten times, trying to make sense of it all.  

He shook his head; he had no idea of what Agrona was doing, or what her father was telling her, and the fact that Trance did not know what language it was only succeeded in making him even _more uncomfortable._

Harper glanced up at the sound of the doors to the machine shop opened.  He looked behind him and saw Agrona standing in front of the doorway, rubbing her eyes.  "Mr. Harper," she murmured.  "Whatcha doing?"

"I was going to make sure that the Andromeda is still running properly," he told her, looking into her deathly-green eyes. 

"Oh, okay . . . I heard something outside of my room, so I wanted to see if you were walking by, or something."

He shook his head.  "Nope, I've been in here for awhile," he lied, turned back around, not wanting to look at Agrona any longer.  

"Okay," she replied, but her voice held the tone that she knew that Harper was lying.  "Well, g'night."  She turned around and walked out of the machine shop.

Harper heard her leave and felt his body relax.  "Oh, thank God," he breathed.  "I thought that she was going to attack me, or something."

_Later . . ._

The entire crew was on the main deck.  "I know that this isn't our usual type of 'adventure,'" said Dylan, "but I think that we should find someone to take in Agrona before we move along to anything else."

Everyone, with the exception of Harper, nodded or murmured in agreement.

Harper glanced around at everyone around him; they all seemed to believe that Agrona was a sweet little girl, but who could blame them; _they_ hadn't seen nor heard what he had earlier.  'Should I tell them what I heard?' he thought.  'Would they even believe me?  Well, I guess it doesn't matter too much if they do or not; if I don't say something, I'll go off the edge!'

Harper cleared his throat.  "Umm, guys?" he said, waiting for everyone to look at him.  "There's something that I think I should tell you.  Now, I know that you probably won't believe me, but I'm going to say it anyways."

He took a brief pause before continuing.  "Earlier today, I was walking by Agrona's room, and I heard her _talking_ to someone in her mind.  I think that it was her father.  She said something about not doing anything to make us suspect anything, then her father replied in this strange language.  Then she said something about me, and then she woke up."  He looked around at each person staring at him.  "Now, you can take this to mean whatever you want, but _I_ want this girl off of the damn ship as soon as possible."

Beka was the first to speak:  "Harper, are you insane?  I highly doubt that a little girl is the 'root of all evil,' okay?"

"But-"

"Harper, just don't worry about it, okay?  And I'm sure that she was just talking in her sleep.  It happens, you know."

Harper groaned.  "Fine, don't believe me; I didn't expect you to, anyways."  He turned and stormed out.

The crew watched as he left.  "I think that the boy has finally gone over the edge," said Tyr, after a moment of silence.

Harper stood in his machine shop, staring at the wall.  "What in the _hell is that little Spawn of Satan trying to do to me?" he asked himself.  Somehow, she had managed to turn the entire crew against him._

Beka's words rang throughout his mind.  _Are you insane?_  He rubbed at his eyes.  Maybe he _was_ going insane, but if he was, it was because of Agrona.  He sighed inwardly and crouched down to pick up his tools and begin working on the Andromeda.

**Cl****_-ICK_**

He snapped his heard up.  "What-" He turned his head around . . . nothing; the room was completely empty.  He shrugged his shoulders and continued his work.

**Cl****_-ICK_**

He turned his head around once again, only to be met with the vacant room.  Chewing on his lip, he stood up and began to work on the ship.

**ScrEEch******

Harper's heart skipped a beat, but he did not turn around.  His heartbeat pulsated throughout his brain.

**Sc_EE_****_-EE_-CH**

Harper clasped his hands over his ears; it was as though someone was running their long fingernails slowly down a chalkboard.  He shuddered, lowering his hands.  'Am I losing my mind?' he thought.

Suddenly, a cool breeze blew on the back of his neck, causing the hairs on his neck and arms to stand on end.  He shuddered again, rubbing his neck with the back of his hand.

He sucked in his breath as he heard footsteps approaching; small, childlike footsteps.  Harper's urge to turn around grew even greater, but he did not give in.  He took a deep breath.  His fear was growing.  Why did he feel that Agrona was coming after him?

The footsteps grew closer; step by step . . . Harper could literally feel the vibration through the metal floor.  The footsteps stopped directly behind him.  

Harper squeezed his eyes shut.  'No, don't turn around; it's nothing,' he told himself.  His eyes snapped open at the sound of a small girl giggling.  "Screw it," he mumbled, spinning around to see . . . an empty room.

The sight of the deserted room was about ten times worse than if someone actually _had_ been there.  "Oh, my God," he whimpered, rubbing at his temples.  "What is going _on?"_

In his mind, a young girl laughed . . .

_To Be Continued . . ._

A/N: Don't forget to review, I simply looooove feedback!  Thanks much!


	3. Chapter Three

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to "Andromeda" or its characters.  I am simply borrowing them, I swear!  

A/N: Thanks for the reviews!  Don't forget to review this chapter.

Title: "The Girl Who Hated All"

Summary:  When the Andromeda comes across a very young, and very strange young girl, they have no choice but to allow her to come with them. Harper soon discovers her secret; too bad no one believes him…

Genre: Supernatural/Horror

Rating: PG-13 for language and supernatural occurrences.

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**Chapter Three**

Harper was in his shop, sitting on the ground.  So many thoughts were running through his mind that he could barely pay attention to what he was supposed to be doing.  'Maybe I'm being too paranoid about Agrona.  I mean, maybe she's perfectly harmless . . . but there's something about her; when I look at her, I feel . . . empty, alone . . . dead.'

He shook his head, ridding his mind of the thoughts, for the minute, at least.

'But the worst part of it all is that my crew members, my _friends, won't even listen to me about it.  This sucks.'  He threw the tool he had been holding to the floor, where it landed with a loud _clang_, vibrated throughout the room.  He jerked his head to look behind him, just to make sure that no one heard all of the noise and was coming to "investigate."_

Harper sighed, and stood up.  Suddenly, his eyes lit up as an idea flashed through his mind.  'I've got to get back to that planet, find some evidence, _anything_ to prove that I'm right.'  He turned around and walked towards the door.  He walked out into the hallway, being careful as he rushed past Agrona's room.  

Harper's jogging came to a slow walk as he saw Beka round the corner in front of him.  "Hey Seamus," she greeted, glancing up only momentarily from the notes she was reading.

"Hey Boss," he replied, trying his best to remain calm, or at least _sound_ calm.  He walked unhurriedly behind Beka until she went into the Observation Deck, when he once again took off into a fast-paced jog.

Harper finally reached the entrance to the Hanger Deck.  Climbing into the spacecraft nearest the door which led out into space, he sat down in the seat and began to turn the small ship on.  The whirring of the engines filled his ears.  Taking a deep breath, he watched as the Hanger Deck door's slid open. "Here goes nothin'," he breathed, flying the spacecraft out of the Andromeda and into the darkness . . .

"A spacecraft has just exited the Andromeda," stated Rommie.

"What?" said Dylan, "On screen."  The screen flickered, and then showed the spacecraft flying in the opposite direction.

"Harper is in the spacecraft," said Rommie, looking over at Dylan, who was gritting his teeth together.  "Should I summon him?"

Dylan nodded.  "Yes, let's see what Mr. Harper thinks that he's doing," he replied, annoyance showing clearly in his voice.

Moments later, Harper's face appeared on the screen.  "Hey Boss," he greeted, smiling a nervous smile.  "What's up?"

"Harper, what are you doing?!" demanded Dylan, his eyes growing wide with anger.

"Listen; don't worry about it, okay?  I'm gonna be fine!" Harper insisted.  "I'll be back soon, alright?  Harper out."  The screen went blank, leaving the Andromeda crew to wonder what he was up to.

"I told you; the boy's lost his mind.  I knew it would happen eventually," uttered Tyr, breaking the silence that had come over the crew.

"What do you suppose he's doing?" questioned Beka, looking around at everyone.

"It's obvious, isn't it?" said Trance, stepping foreword.  "He's going back to Mykenae."

"But why?"

Trance shrugged.  "Maybe to find something to prove us wrong about Agrona," she suggested, raising an eyebrow.

_On Mykenae . . .___

Harper exited his small ship, feeling his back crack as he stood upright.  As soon as his feet touched the ground, he felt a chill fly up and down his spine.  He shuddered.  "What am I doing here?" he mumbled, shaking his head.  "This place gives me the creeps."

Nevertheless, he continued to walk through the forest.  He looked around at the trees and plants; they looked unusually brown, as though they were dying.  His eyes drifted to each tree he walked past.  They all looked the same: brown, wilting, and brittle.  

He lifted his hand and set it upon a branch that was extending over the dirt path he was walking on; as soon as his fingers touched the limb, it began to dissolve away.  Harper could literally see the branch crumble apart and fall to the forest floor, where it blended in with the soil.  He looked at his hand; the branch had left a smear of dirt on his hand.

He moved to wipe the dirt away on his pants, but stopped.  He looked closely at his hand; was it just him, or did the smudge have a close resemblance to an eye?  He cocked an eyebrow as he lowered his hand, his gaze never leaving the eye.

'I've got to find where Agrona was living before her father died,' Harper told himself, but he could not tear his eyes away from the eye on his hand.  His body tensed; this was the same feeling he got whenever he looked into Agrona's eyes . . .

Sweat began to form on his brow.  Harper took a deep breath and snapped his eyes shut.  He rubbed the palm of his hand on his pants and opened his eyes.  He looked at his hand; it was perfectly clean.  He sighed in relief and continued to walk, avoiding contact with any of the plants.

After walking for over a mile without finding so much as another living being, Harper was faced with the realization that he was not only completely lost, but had no idea of what he was looking for.

"This is just _great_," he moaned, slumping down on a rock.  "I'm n the middle of nowhere, with no idea of what to do or where to go, and _no food . . . nice thinking, Harper."  He held his head in his hands.  "Well, if I'm gone for a really long time, Dylan, Beka, and everyone will come looking for me eventually."  _

He lifted his head and looked around at where he was.  The forest looked the same, brown, still, and empty.  Suddenly, something caught his eye; it was looked like a small hut of some sort.  "Maybe that's where Agrona and her father lived," Harper suggested to himself.

He stood up and began walking in the direction of the hut.  As he got closer, Harper realized that the hut was not "small," but rather quite large.  It was roughly fifteen feet wide and about ten feet tall.  There was a rectangular door and four small, square windows on the hut.

Harper approached the door, lifted his hand, and gently rapped on the door.  "Hello?" he called.  The only response he got was silence.  He knocked on the door once again, louder this time.  "Hello?!" he called again.  Silence.  He reached for the round knob on the door and turned.

The door swung open to reveal a large room.  Inside of the room were two small mattresses, and, on top of the mattresses, were thin, green blankets and small white pillows.

There was also a table, as well as chairs, standing in the center of the hut.  To the left of the table and chairs was a bookshelf stacked with over fifty books.  Harper squinted at the bookshelf.  That seemed to be the only item worth looking at in the entire hut.  

Harper strolled towards the bookshelf and kneeled down.  He glanced over the titles of each of the books, a few were in Common, others were in some strange language: Vračanje, Osveta i Smrt, The Wrath of Whirling . . .  "Here's one that I can actually understand," said Harper, pulling out the book titled The Wrath of Whirling.

He flipped open to the first page, where someone had written a note on the inside covers.  "'Dear Agrona, I am afraid that I must leave you and your father to find what I have been looking for my entire life: pure happiness.  Remember; use this book wisely, as I have always taught you.  I will love you and miss you terribly.  Sincerely, _majka.'_

"Huh," said Harper, flipping to the first chapter of the book.  "'Revenge: An Incantation.  Note: Only use against someone who has done pure evil.'  A spell for revenge?  Agrona _is_ some kind of witch.  I wonder what the spell does to you."  He shrugged and closed the book, sliding it back into its place.

Harper began to look at the other books on the shelf.  None of them were in a language he understood, or were helpful in the least bit.  Sighing, he stood up and walked over to the mattress.  He collapsed onto his back, laying his head against the pillow.  He lifted his head up; there was something hard underneath the pillow.  He reached underneath and pulled out a thin, pink book.  On the cover, in gold cursive letters, were the words "_Moj Zapisnik_."

Narrowing his eyes, he opened the book to the first page, where the words "My Diary" were written in a child's handwriting.  'Agrona's diary?' he thought.  He glanced around the hut, and then flipped to the next page:

_2.2.10089_

_Dear Diary,_

_Majaka left this diary for me as a gift before she left to go find "pure happiness."  I thought that she was__ happy here with me and Papa.  I thought she loved me, but she hates me, everyone knows it.  All of the kids say so.  Only Papa loves me.  I hate everyone.  Except Papa, of course._

Harper re-read the date.  "'2.2.10089'?" he read, in a confused tone of voice.  "But that was only a few months ago.  'All of the kids'?  That means that there _must have been people here.  But how did they all disappear?"  His gaze drifted back down towards the diary, and he continued to read:_

_2.16.10089_

_Dear Diary,_

_Ha ha ha!  I can't stop laughing!.  Everything is getting better!  Majaka's book that she gave me, The Wrath of Whirling, is so__ helpful to me!  Yesterday, I performed the spell on page 143 and today Nizar, the boy who always teases me about Majaka's leaving, got deathly ill, and is expected to die soon!  People shouldn't tease me, 'cause I'm more powerful then they_ are.  I'm more powerful then EVERYONE!!__

Harper read the entry over and over.  "Oh, my God; she _killed someone . . . with that __spell?" he gasped, unable to believe it.  He flipped the page; there were only three entries left._

_3.9.10089_

_Dear Diary,_

_Papa loves me more and more each day!  I help him kill all of the animals for food, and I kill all of the people he and I hate, thanks to Majaka's books.  She wasn't thinking, leaving them with us, because she's the next to die!  I love having so much power.  Papa wants me to teach him how to use the books tomorrow.  Soon, everyone on Mykenae will be gone!_

_3.18.10089_

_Dear Diary,_

_We did it!  Everyone is gone!  Papa and I destroyed everyone on Mykenae!  It feels so good to be alone on this planet.  But Papa isn't looking too good; I think that older people shouldn't use the spells, because the book said that it requires a lot of energy to perform the curses.  _

"Oh, my God," Harper said again.  "They killed . . . everyone?" He looked at the next entry and his eyes widened; it was the date that they had come to Mykenae:

_4.04.10089_

_I'm crying so hard that I can barely write.  Papa died last night.  I don't know how it happened!  But luckily I found a spell so that I can talk to him whenever I want.  Wait, I hear something outside . . . someone's landed on Mykenae, MY planet.  Hold on, I need to talk to Papa.  I'm back; Papa says that since I have destroyed everyone on this planet, I should go with whoever landed here and find more people to destroy.  I'm going to go, probably forever.  Bye!_

Harper stared at the second to last sentence, his mouth agape.  "Oh, my God," he repeated, closing the diary and standing up.  "I've got to get back to the Andromeda."  He began to walk towards the open door when it suddenly slammed shut.  "What the-"

Harper slid the diary into a pocket on his pants and took a hold of the doorknob.  He turned, but the door did not move.  It seemed to be locked, although there was no lock on the door.  Harper's heart began to thump madly in his chest.  He continued to pull and push on the door, praying for it to open.

Behind him, a pitch black shadow-like matter began to seep in through the windows.  It began to grow larger . . . and larger.  Harper began to pound frantically on the wood door.  "Come _on!" he pleaded, giving the door one last strike before turning around.  "Maybe I can get through the windo-" He was cut off at the sight of the dark figure in front of him._

Harper stared at the shadow-like figure, his eyes growing, if possible, even wider.  The figure's two small, bright green lights reminded Harper of Agrona's green eyes.  He was mesmerized by the lights.  His mind was telling him to move, but his body had seemed to shut down.  All he could do was stand there and stare.

"_Te znati odveć!_ Te neće kocka zatim , ali te će skoro!_ " the figure said, in a chilling hiss.  "You know too much!" the figure repeated in Common, so that Harper would understand.  "You will not die now, but soon you shall!"  _

Its eyes grew larger and brighter.  Harper's own eyes began to sting and burn, but he could not remove his gaze from the green lights.  The figure grew larger as well, until it took over the entire hut.

Harper was surrounded by shadow, and the gaze between his and the figure's eyes was broken.  Something was happening; the room began to spin around him.  He stumbled towards the door and took a hold of the knob. He collapsed onto his knees and turned the knob . . .

The door swung open and Harper crawled out into the forest.  He looked back at the hut.  The shadow-like figure had disappeared.  A pulse was pounding in his skull, and everything began to get dark.

He collapsed onto the cool, damp forest floor.  His eyes slid shut and unconsciousness was slowly overcoming him.  Before he slipped into nothingness, he felt the small book slide out of his pocket, followed by a ripping sound . . .

_To Be Continued . . ._

A/N: Yay, Chapter Three is finished!  Now, _please review!  I only got one for the last chapter.  Thanks much!_


	4. Chapter Four

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to "Andromeda" or its characters.  I am simply borrowing them, I swear!  

A/N: Please review if you read.  I didn't get any reviews for the last chapter.  Thanks!

Title: "The Girl Who Hated All"

Summary: When the Andromeda comes across a very young, and very strange young girl, they have no choice but to allow her to come with them. But when strange events begin to occur, there is only one suspect, and they can't seem to get rid of her…

Genre: Supernatural/Horror

Rating: PG-13 for language and supernatural occurrences.

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**Chapter Four**

Morning was approaching.  The shadows produced by the trees were slowly appearing.  A breeze swept by, causing loose dirt to fly up into the air.  The dust drifted down, landing on the unconscious being that was lying on the ground.  He was lying so still that even the earth around him was still.  Scattered around him were small, white pieces of paper.

Black began to fill the air.  Harper began to stir as he inhaled the smoke that was enveloping him.  He began to cough, his eyes fluttering open.  "What-what the hell-" he coughed, sitting upright.  He rubbed at his eyes, attempting to see through the heavy smoke.  

As his eyes regained clarity, the first thing he saw Agrona's hut.  "Oh, my God!" he exclaimed, stumbling as he attempted to stand up.  He stood and stared in bewilderment and horror at the sight of the hut; the roof was covered in orange-red flames, and the flames were slowly sliding down the walls.  The smoke increased, spewing into the sky at an alarming rate.  Suddenly, a thought flashed through Harper's mind: 'The diary!'  He reached into his pants' pocket; it was empty.  

His heart skipped a beat as he frantically searched his other pockets.  "Where _is_ it?" he cried, hysterically.  His eyes drifted to the ground where he could see (but just barely) the small pieces of paper that were spread out around his feet.  He fell to his knees, picking up the small bits of paper.  As his hands searched the ground around him, he felt his hand brush something out of the ordinary; he took a hold of the section of pink leather and stood up.  The rising sun's rays shot down onto the leather, reflecting on the gold writing that was inscribed on it: _Moj Zapisnik_.

Harper sucked in his breath.  The feeling of utter hopelessness was pouring down onto him.  His finger outlined the letters on the used-to-be cover of Agrona's diary.  The gold letters sparkled at him in the sun; laughing at him, mocking him.  He squeezed his eyes shut and let his grip on the cover loosen, and the leather fell down to the ground.

His gaze drifted back up to the hut; the flames were growing larger and larger.  An assortment of thoughts flashed through Harper's mind: 'You lost the diary; now your crew will never believe you.'  'You can't do anything right!  Just lie on the ground, fall back asleep, and let the fire get you.'  'Go back inside the hut.  Get on one of the spell books.  At least you won't go back empty handed.'

Harper obeyed the last of his thoughts; he began to run towards the hut.  As he entered the small house, he could immediately feel the heat hit him.  His eyes glanced over the room, attempting to see the bookshelf through the thick smoke.  He dashed over to the bookshelf and grabbed the book titled The Wrath of Whirling.  Sweat was already beginning to appear on his forehead.  He wiped the back of his arm across his face and turned around, dashing back towards the door.  He hugged the book to his chest as he ducked beneath the doorway, attempting to avoid the patches of fire that were scattered throughout the shelter.

As soon as he exited the hut, he collapsed onto his knees, coughing intensely.  He looked behind him and saw the flames continuing to devour the hut.  With all of his strength, he pushed himself back onto his feet and continued to run.

He ran back into the rainforest and did not stop; he couldn't.  His legs continued to move, and he did not try to stop them; he knew that, unless he got far, far away from where he was, that fire would spread, destroying everything in its path, including him.

Harper's head was throbbing, and the thought of what had happened the previous night would not leave him mind.  What _had_ that . . . thing been?  He had never seen, or even _heard_, of anything like it.  And its eyes . . . Harper shuddered.  Its eye had been the worst, if that was even what they were.  They had burned to look into, but they had held his attention so strongly that he could not help but look.  Just the mere thought of them made him feel sick and uneasy and, for the most part, scared for his life.  Harper's foot caught a bit of loose soil and he stumbled, causing his attention to snap back to his running.

He looked far ahead and saw a small stream.  "Okay," he said to himself, breathing heavily.  "I'm going to rest as soon as I get past the stream."  A cramp was growing in his abdomen, sending a small shot of pain up his side whenever his left foot hit the ground.

Harper's eyes were fixated upon the creek.  It seemed as though it was not getting any closer; that he was running, but not actually moving.  His mouth was dry; burning and screaming for water.  

Finally, he reached the stream.  It was not any longer than ten or fifteen feet wide.  Harper took a few steps backwards, and then dashed towards the stream. As he reached the edge, he leaped up, jumping over the water.  He landed on the other side, just barely untouched by the water's edge. 

He kneeled down and dipped his hands in the water, bringing it up and slurping it. The cool water felt so good as it flowed down his throat.  He dipped his hands back into the water, but he did not bring them back up; something had caught his eye.  Something on the banks of the water.

He removed his hands from the stream and crawled over to the spot where a white stone-like object was jutting up from the mud.  He brushed away the excess dirt, revealing even more of the white object.  Curiosity taking over, he began to dig, pushing and plowing the mud away.  More and more white began to appear, until Harper realized what it was.

His stomach gave a sudden lurch and he fell backwards onto the ground.  The white stone-like object had been a small section of a ribcage.

He stood up; his heart was in his throat.  He slowly backed away from the bank.  Suddenly, his foot got caught on a root and he fell backwards onto his back.  As he hit the ground, a grunt escaped from his mouth.  "Come on," he groaned, rolling onto his chest and pushing himself up into a standing position.  His eyes scanned the area around him.  He noticed a sketch engraved in one of the trees.  He approached it, his eyes squinting as he read it.

"_Craft the spell in the fire;_

_Craft it well; Weave it higher._

_Weave it now of shining flame;_

_None shall come to hurt or maim._

_None shall pass this fiery wall;_

_None shall pass No, none at all._"

Harper jumped back at the sudden flash of red.  He looked around in confusion.  "Wha-" he said, returning his gaze to the spell on the tree.  Beneath it, he noticed, was a small note.  He stooped down and read the message.  "_Read this spell.  Agrona will not prevail.  Help shall come, if you seek it correctly._"  Underneath it was signed, "_Nadezhd__a_."  Harper shook his head.  "What the hell is going on?" he muttered.  

He remembered, suddenly, the book he had taken from Agrona's home.  It was lying near the stream.  Harper picked it up and began to look through it. 

Inside of it were spells, enchantments, hexes . . . "It's amazing how books just like this killed so many people," he said, shaking his head again.  He arrived at the back few pages.  He skimmed by them and arrived at the back cover, where a name was written; small, but legible.  Harper sucked in his breath.  _Nadezhda_.  He should have known.  Agrona and her parents were probably the only ones on the whole freaking planet with those abilities.

"Great," moaned Harper, leaning against the tree, where the spell had been carved, "what did I do to myself when I said that spell?" he wondered aloud.  He looked at the cover of The Wrath of Whirling.  On the cover was a red hexagram on top of a bright yellow sun.

Harper slowly turned the book over, looking at it from all angles.  He noticed that one page had the corner turned over, but only very slightly.  He opened the book to the marked page, and saw that there was a folded piece of paper stuck tightly in the crease of the book.  He pulled it out and unfolded it.  On the paper, in rushed handwriting, was a list of "Rules to Performing Spells."  Harper's eyebrow rose as he glanced over the list:

1) Do **NOT** use the same spell repeatedly to simply raise your skill.

2) It is possible to cast spells in advance.  To activate the trigger, say the word, phrase, etc. that you have designated to the spell. 

3) You can cast spells or feats with a lengthened duration, even lasting a generation

4) A spell can be cast on multiple people, but at a penalty; part of the spell will be reversed upon the doer.

5) You can cast spells at a distance.

6) A magical effect can be permanently embedded in an item.

"Huh." Harper grunted in confusion.  "You know, I really don't understand all of this magic crap," he mumbled, crumbling the paper up and sticking it into his back pocket.  "Maybe this'll be useful later," he said to himself.

Harper continued to walk through the forest, in search of the ship he had arrived at the planet in.  He was feeling especially paranoid; constantly jerking his head in all directions, just to be sure that no one, or nothing, was following behind him, waiting to strike.

All he wanted was to get off of this Godforsaken planet before the paranoia overpowered him and gave him an anxiety attack (which wasn't too far off).

A *snap* filled the uneasy silence.  Harper jumped back at least two feet, his heart pounding rapidly in his chest.  _BA-BUM, BA-BUM._  It took him awhile to realize that it was his own foot that caused the twig to break.  Man, if his friends could see him now . . . they'd have already lost all hope in him _ever_ finding his ship, much less getting back to the Andromeda.

For some reason, as he trudged blindly through the forest, something Rev Bem had always told him came into his mind.  _My pain belongs to the Devine. It is like air; it is like water._  That prayer always seemed to help him in the worst times; why not try it once more?  "My fear belongs to the Devine.  It is like air; it is like water," he muttered to himself as he continued his search through the forest.

Harper heard a short, but loud, shriek come from behind him.  He spun around; the only movement he could see was the gentle falling of a leaf.  He shuddered.  "My fear belongs to the Devine.  It is like air; it is like water," he repeated, slightly louder this time.

_BAZEEE!  _A high-pitched wail pierced through the air, causing Harper to stagger and fall against a tree, rubbing at the area behind his ears.  'My fear belongs to the Devine.  It is like air; it is like water,' he thought, shakily.  'God, my fear belongs to whoever is stalking me right now.'  He turned his head, but, once again, saw nothing, no one.

Whatever game that person (or thing) was playing was getting old fast, but not fading whatsoever.  "My fear belongs to the Devine.  It is like air; it is like water," he said, again, as a miserable attempt to shake off the being who was following him . . . if anyone was actually following him.

Harper continued in this manner for over an hour, attempting to ignore the constant noises that were coming from behind him.  He suppressed a yawn, scratching at the back of his head.  "If I don't find the ship soon, I'll have to sleep right here in the forest, and I don't feel up to that."  He shook his head.  "Oh God, I'm talking to myself . . . that's never a good sign."  He groaned inwardly, fighting all bodily warnings that he needed to go to sleep right then, and no later.

Harper could feel himself beginning to lose energy.  He paused in his walking.  'I guess going to sleep couldn't hurt,' he thought, looking around for a place to rest.  Through his darkening vision, he could see a spot of soft earth.  He slowly trudged over to the spot and lied down.  He let his eyelids slide shut, and a mixed feeling of relaxation, apprehension, and unknowing flickered through him, before deep sleep finally shrouded him . . .

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

_Meanwhile, on the Andromeda . . ._

"Where the _hell_ is that boy?!" Beka demanded, looking at the screen.  She had been attempting to see where Harper was on Mykenae, but, so far, the only results she had gotten said that there were no living beings on the entire planet.  "I mean, if he's not on Mykenae, then where else would he go?"

"I don't know, Beka," said Trance, standing beside her.  "I was sure that this is where Harper was going to go, but . . ." She shook her head in perplexity.  "I don't see where he could be.  Rommie, are you sure that this is accurate?" she asked, looking over at the avatar.

"I cannot detect any malfunctions," she replied, as she scanned the planet once again.  "I also cannot detect any life forms."

Beka rubbed at her temple.  This was just great; Harper was missing, and the only place that he would have gone, _could_ have gone, was completely empty.  Beka bit her lip; the fact that the planet was uninhabited was bothering her, as it had when they first landed on Mykenae, although she had not told anyone.  Was it really possible for such a planet not to inhabit anyone?

It seemed like a perfectly reasonable place to live; the climate was good, there was water, food . . . everything that one needed to survive.  "Rommie," she began, cocking an eyebrow, "could you run a history of all living beings that have been on Mykenae?"

Rommie nodded.  "The last recorded life was on . . . 3.18.10089."

Beka looked over at her in surprise.  "But that was less than a month ago," she said, shocked.  "But that was less than a month ago.  What was the recorded population for four months ago?"

There was a pause as Rommie calculated.  "Population: One million, two hundred thousand, and sixteen," she replied, a question in her voice.  "That can't be right.  As soon as we find Harper, we'd better make sure he checks over my population calculation."

"So, if your calculations are wrong, perhaps Harper really _is_ on Mykenae," said Trance, hopefully.

"You're right, Trance.  I mean, we didn't detect Agrona, so maybe Harper is down there.  Come on, let's find Dylan and go back down to Mykenae," she added, gesturing for Trance to follow her as she stepped down from her post and began to walk towards the door . . .

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Harper was still in a deep sleep, although the thrashing of his body said otherwise.  He was flailing about, mumbling the prayer, "My fear belongs to the Devine.  It is like air; it is like water . . ."  

_Harper could see Agrona, even though he was not sure if she could see him.  There were people all around him, completely oblivious to both him and Agrona.  He stared at Agrona carefully, and could see her lips moving, her eyes locked upon a man walking by.  Her lips continued to move, until the man stopped in his tracks, dropping the bag he had been carrying; the fruits and vegetables rolled out of the bag, onto the ground._

_Agrona continued to stare at the man, hatred in her eyes, and continued to mutter something Harper could not hear.  Harper watched as the man's eyes snapped shut, and he began to cry out in pain._

_A smirk began to appear on Agrona's face, but the evil in her eyes, and the continuous chanting (Harper assumed it to be) did not stop.  The man fell to his knees, placing a hand to his chest.  His chest flew up and down rapidly, his hand curling into a fist, gripping onto his shirt as though it was the only thing keeping him alive._

_The man gasped one last breath, before collapsing onto the ground.  His body gave one final jerk, before it relaxed, and Agrona's chanting stopped.  Her lips curling into a large smile and looked into Harper's eyes for a split second, before she disappeared right before his eyes._

_It was only Harper and the man.  Harper had no other choice but to look at him, a feeling of both pity and terror in his stomach.  Suddenly, he saw the man move and stand.  Harper watched, his mouth agape, as the man looked over at him . . . saw him.  The man walked over to Harper, looking at him with lifeless eyes._

_"Harper," he said, in an unemotional tone of voice.  "I am __Dijon__.  You must listen to me.  I know what troubles you."_

_Harper opened his mouth, but got caught on his own voice, which didn't really matter; he did not know what to say._

_"Do you know what killed the inhabitants of Mykenae?" __Dijon__ asked._

_Harper nodded.  "Agrona," he replied, simply._

_"Yes.  I also know that you are troubled that your friends do not believe you about the witch, Agrona."_

_Harper nodded again.  "Do not tell them what you know," advised __Dijon__, seriously.  "What they do not know will only make them safer.  But since _you _know, it is best that I give you a warning: One of Agrona's spells (in the book you took from her house) can destroy her."_

_Harper's eyes widened slightly.  "R-really?" he asked, his voice cracking a bit.  "Which one?"_

_Dijon__ shook his head.  "I do not know.  I have never seen Agrona's books, but I _do_ know that there is a spell that can stop her evil, forever.  But," he added, firmly.  "you _must_ be sure that you are using the correct spell, or else Agrona's father will command her to destroy you, as she destroyed me . . . and everyone else on Mykenae."_

_Harper opened his mouth, but once again could not find anything to say.  "You must trust me," said __Dijon__.  He then closed his soulless eyes, and vanished, as Agrona had after she killed him._

_Harper stared at the spot __Dijon__ had been, inhaling deeply.  He could feel himself beginning to awaken.  'I can't tell the crew about what I learned?' he thought.  'Great, then coming here was a big mistake.'  He paused, thinking about his expedition through the past few days.  "Or maybe not," he muttered._

Harper's eyes snapped open, and he was greeted with the green leaves of the rainforest.  His eyes narrowed.  Not a day prior, the trees had been brown and dead, but now . . . they were alive.

"Harper!"  Harper looked over at the direction where the voice came.  Through the branches and bushes, he saw Beka walking towards him, both joy and anger in her voice.

Harper looked at the ground next to him, where Agrona's book was lying and pulled it into his chest.  "Harper!" Beka exclaimed again.

"Hey Boss!" Harper yelled back, stuffing the book into his jacket and zipping it up.

Beka walked up to him, all joy of finding him had disappeared.  "What did you think you were doing?!" she demanded, her voice echoing throughout the forest.

"I just wanted to come back here," Harper lied, nervously.  "You know, to look around; make sure that there was really no one here."

Beka could sense Harper's lying to her, but she shrugged it off, glad that Harper was safe.  "Which reminds me, you'd better inspect Rommie's detector; it said that there had been a population of over a million not three months ago."  She shook her head.

Harper chuckled as Beka turned around and began to walk back through the forest.  Harper was dying to tell her everything he had learned, dying to have her trust him again, but he didn't want to put her in any more danger than she was already in, trusting Agrona and all.

Harper followed close behind Beka, thinking to himself, 'One spell.  This is going to call for some intense studying of this book.'  He felt the lump in his jacket.  'And it is going to take awhile, especially since I can't let Agrona see me with it.'

Harper and Beka arrived at the Maru, where Dylan was waiting inside.  "Mr. Harper-" he began, annoyance in his voice.

Harper held up his hands, cutting Dylan off.  "Don't worry, Boss; Beka already asked me what I was doing here.  I don't need to hear it again."  

Dylan closed his mouth, nodding.  He had already had a stressful day, and was not up to arguing with Harper at that moment.

Harper sat down in a chair, strapping himself in.  "Hey Boss?" he asked, looking at Beka.  "What about the ship I came in?"

Beka shrugged.  "We don't have time to look for it; we still have to find Agrona someone to take care of her, remember?"

Just hearing Agrona's name sent a chill up his spine, but he remained calm and collected.  "Yeah, I remember."

"What, no more arguments over her being 'evil?'" mocked Beka, with a half-smile.

"Nope," replied Harper.  "I was probably just being paranoid or something," he said, rolling his eyes.  Beka could believe whatever she wanted, but Harper knew what Agrona really was, and he fully intended to stop her, no matter what the cost . . .

A/N: Okay, time to give credit where credit is due.  I got the spell (_Craft the spell in the fire; Craft it well; Weave it higher)_ from dark-witchcraft.com (I'm not the best "spell-creator"), and the list of "rules to performing spells" from kpmcdona.home.mindspring.com.  Okay, now **review** please!!


	5. Chapter Five

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to "Andromeda" or its characters.  I am simply borrowing them, I swear!  

A/N: Thanks for the reviews!

Title: "The Girl Who Hated All"

Summary: When the Andromeda comes across a very young, and very strange young girl, they have no choice but to allow her to come with them. But when strange events begin to occur, there is only one suspect, and they can't seem to get rid of her.

Genre: Supernatural/Horror

Rating: PG-13 for language and supernatural occurrences.

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**Chapter Five**

Harper was sitting in one of the chairs in the Maru.  He was extremely anxious to begin looking over Agrona's book.  Luckily, no one could notice his energized fidgeting, or else they would have begun asking him questions about what had happened on Mykenae.  Looking back on the experience, Harper felt as though none of it had actually happened; he could feel the lump in his jacket, which told him that it all had, in fact, been reality.

He inhaled deeply, looking up at the ceiling.  This was all so stressful: searching for evidence and now having to read a huge, thick book, filled with all sorts of things that could kill him in less than a second . . . he simply wasn't cut out for that kind of pressure.

His leg began to jiggle in that obnoxious, hyperactive way that always told you that you were either very nervous or very excited.  Harper didn't need his leg to tell him how nervous he was; he could feel it in his gut.  It was that type of feeling that one often experience when they were, say, up in a tall tree, peering down at the ground, not completely focusing on, but still knowing, the fact that you could fall . . . it was a supernatural feeling, but a dangerous one, nonetheless.  

Or, it could be the feeling someone gets when they feel that someone is watching them.  Harper turned around in his seat, looking at everyone around him; they all seemed to be focused on where they were going, not him.  Whatever, it made him less uptight to know that they weren't staring at him.  After all, he _had_ gotten himself lost, and God knows what else . . .

Harper's turned back around, and stared directly ahead, but not really looking at anything; he was too absorbed in his thoughts.  'I wonder if Agrona knew what I was doing.  I mean, she does have those telepathic powers, but doesn't she need the spell book to use them?  Or maybe, she _memorized_ all of them.  No, no way.  No one, no matter _what_ powers they possessed could _ever_ memorize a book this big, without getting the spells mixed up.'  

He rubbed at his neck, attempting to relieve some of the built-up tension.  'Spells . . . which reminds me, that spell on the tree; I wonder what it did.  I probably shouldn't have read it aloud.  I mean, _that_ was a real smart thing to do.  I wonder if that spell is in here.'  He reached up and slid his hand into his jacket, placing his hand on the cover of the book.  'Oh well, what does it matter?  I'd never be able to remember it.  I guess whatever I did, I'll just have to let happen.'

"Harper, come on."  Harper's head jerked upright at the sound of his name.  He had been so immersed in his own mind that he had not noticed that the Maru had arrived at the Andromeda.  

Harper removed his hand from his jacket and quickly unbuckled himself.  "Comin' Boss," he replied, flashing Beka a small grin before standing up and following her out of the Maru.

As soon as he set foot on the Andromeda, Harper could feel a sudden change in temperature.  He crossed his arms tightly, so as to keep his body heat in.  He didn't know why he felt so cold; it had come on so quickly.  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Agrona approaching him.  He spun around to face her.  "Um, hi Agrona," he greeted, forcing a smile.

"Hello Mr. Harper," she replied, a small smile plastered upon her face.  "Where were you?" she asked, with general interest, and cocking her head.

"Out," he replied, shortly.  He really did not want to talk to her.  All he wanted was so get away from her, and the sooner, the better.

"Ms. Valentine said that you went back to Mykenae," she said, her smile unfolding into a toothy grin.

'Beka, I'm going to kill you,' he thought, before replying the young girl standing in front of him.  "Did she now?  Well, Ms. Valentine doesn't know what she's talking about."

Agrona's smile faded slightly, and she raised an eyebrow.  "Oh."  She sounded disappointed, and her eyes began to drift towards Harper's chest.  Harper noticed this immediately, and folded his arms tighter, hoping that she wouldn't notice the book stashed beneath his arms.

"Well, I gotta run," he said quickly, turning around and walking down the hall towards the Machine Shop.  As he got further and further from the Agrona, he could feel his body begin to warm up.  His arms unfolded and he looked back at Agrona.  Her eyes were locked upon his.  She was no longer smiling and her eyes were filled with anger and hatred.

Harper turned his head as an unsettling chill was sent up his spine.  He did not like the look that that kid had given him, and he noticed that the closer he got to that little girl, the colder he seemed to get.  It was like those old stories on Earth; whenever a ghost would pass by someone, the person would feel a chill sweep by.  A ghost . . . perhaps _that_ was what Agrona was?  He doubted it; as she was pretty young, and seemed very much alive.

Harper entered his Machine Shop, closing the door behind him.  As he walked over to a table, he pulled the book out from his jacket.  He sat down on a stool, running his hand over the blood red hexagon.  He opened the book to the first page: Chapter One.  "Great, it doesn't even have a 'Table of Contents'?" he whispered, rolling his eyes.  "Great, _just_great.

"'Chapter One-The Rules to Spell Casting.'"  He paused.  'Don't I already have that?' he thought, reaching into his pants' pocket and pulling out the piece of paper.  'Yeah, thought so.'  He continued to read in a low voice.  "'Rule One: Do not use the same spell in order to raise your skill' . . . blah, blah, blah, I know . . ." His voice trailed off.  "Well, since I already know all of this . . ." He flipped past chapter one.  "'Chapter Two-" 

His voice was cut off at the sound of footsteps approaching the door.  He slammed the book shut and shoved it beneath one of his old tee shirts that he (thankfully) had left in the machine shop a few days prior.

Harper grabbed a random piece of machinery and began inspecting it as the doors to the room slid open.  He sucked in his breath.  'Please don't be Agrona, please don't be Agrona,' he thought over and over in his mind.

"Mr. Harper?"

'Oh, wonderful,' he thought, sarcastically.  Before turning around in his stool to look at her, Harper cast a small glance at his tee shirt, hoping she didn't know about the book.  "Yes?" he said, feigning general politeness.

"Whatcha doin'?" she asked, her hands folded neatly in front of her.

"Just . . . working," he replied, gesturing towards the machine part.

Agrona nodded.  "I asked Captain Hunt where you had been," she announced, attempting to look Harper directly in the eye.

Harper's eyes danced around the room, too flustered to make eye-contact with Agrona.  "Really, and what did he say?"

"That you were on Mykenae, like Ms. Valentine said.  Why did you lie to me?"  Her eyes flashed, but the small smile remained on her face.

'Uh oh,' thought Harper.  It was going to take a quick, and believable, lie to get out of this one.  "Well, Agrona, I didn't want to say anything to you because . . ."  'Think, Harper, think!'  "Because . . . I thought that you would be too upset to even _think_ about your planet again."  Whoops, a slight slip of the tongue.  "I mean, your home planet."  There, that was a pretty good lie and cover-up.  Besides, it wasn't a complete lie; he didn't want to make her upset . . . oh, what good was it to lie to himself?  It was a lie, no mistake there.

"Huh," said Agrona.  It was obvious that she didn't believe Harper.  "Well, why did you go back there in the first place?"

Oh good, another tough question.  "Because, Agrona," Her name tasted like poison in his mouth, "I accidentally left something on the planet.  Remember, when I first saw you, I tripped and fell?  Well, it turned out that I had dropped something."

Agrona stared at him, her green eyes glistening from the lights in the ceiling.  "Oh, okay," she said.

"Why were you so curious, Agrona?" Harper asked.  Now it was _his_ turn to hit her with the trick question.

"I was just wondering . . ." she replied, turning around.  "After all, it was _my_ planet.  But you would know all about that, wouldn't you Harper?"  She turned her head and gave him a knowing glare, before walking out of the room, the doors closing quietly behind her.

Harper shuddered.  His body temperature must have dropped, at least, two degrees simply from sitting there, having a conversation with that girl, but that was not the reason he had trembled.  'Oh, my God, she knows.  Dear God, how did she know?'  Harper's teeth began to chatter.  "Oh God," he groaned, lying his head down on the table.

He looked over at his tee shirt, where the book was hidden.  From the angle he was at, he could see, but just barely, the word "Wrath" appearing from underneath the shirt.  His head shot up.  'She couldn't have . . . have _seen_ it, could she?' he thought, anxiously.  'She's definitely short enough . . . oh, DAMMIT!'  He screamed the word in his mind.

'What the hell am I going to do now?' he asked himself.  'She knows that I have the book, and if she gets it, she'll kill us all.  Good going, Harper.'

He stood up, taking a hold of the book and wrapping it with the tee shirt.  'I'm never going to leave it alone,' he decided.  'I don't care if I never have to sleep again; I won't leave it alone . . . I can't.'

Harper glanced at the door, and then unwrapped the book.  "Where was I?" he said, aloud, flipping back to Chapter Two.  "'Chapter Two-Common Spells . . .'" He read aloud so as to not miss anything, but was careful to keep his voice down, so that no one would hear him.

After two hours of reading, he had only reached Chapter Five.  He yawned; reading always made him tired.  "'Chap-Chapter Five,'" he read, forcing down a yawn.  "'Bewitching.'"  He paused for a moment as he stretched his arms.  "'Remember, there is only magic where . . . where . . .'" He yawned again.  "'Where there is belief.  If one does not believe that you can bewitch you, then bewitch you, they can't.'"  

Harper noticed a footnote scribbled in next to that sentence.  Most likely from Agrona's mother.  "'Remember, everyone on Mykenae is very superstitious; they believe that all can curse them, and that they can curse all.'"

Harper's eyes narrowed.  "Well then, at least the others are safe, seeing as they don't believe that Agrona's a witch."  His eyes were straining as he searched for the last sentence he had read.  "Why am I so tired?" he moaned, rubbing at his eyes.  "I know that I've slept _plenty_ over my adventure to Mykenae."  

Nevertheless, he could feel his eyelids begin to get heavier and heavier.  He stood up and began to pace about the room.  'Okay, no sleeping.  None.  As soon as you go to sleep, Agrona will snatch the book, and you'll be left with a slow, painful death.  Just like that Dijon guy.'  

Harper continued to pace about the machine shop, thinking of anything and everything that would keep him awake: Magog, Nietzscheans . . . whatever popped into his brain.

"What is he doing?" inquired Dylan.  He and Beka were watching Harper pace back and forth in the Machine Shop, mumbling something.

Beka shrugged.  "I don't know; he hasn't really been the same since, you know, Agrona came on board."

Dylan raised his eyebrows.  "I have noticed that.  It wasn't like him to just take off and leave.  What do you suppose is the matter with him?"

Beka shrugged again.  "No idea; I'll go talk to him."  Dylan nodded at her, and she turned to leave.  Dylan turned away from the screen, and the screen went black.

Beka strolled down the hallway, towards the machine shop.  As she approached the closed doors, she knocked loudly.  "Harper?" she called.  "Can I come in?"

She heard a shuffling of papers and hurried footsteps before Harper replied.  "Uhh, yeah, sure.  Come on in."  The doors slid open, revealing Harper, sitting at a table, inspecting a machine part.  "Hey Boss," he greeted, not turning his head.  "What's up?"

"Nothing really.  Dylan and I were just wondering what you were . . . doing in here."

"Oh, uhh, nothing special; just examining stuff."

"Oh."  Beka bit her lip.  Harper was lying to her; she had just seen him pacing frantically around the room, reading some book.  She looked at the table; the book was gone.  Her eyes narrowed.  "Harper," she began gently, "are you _sure_ that there's nothing you want to tell me?"

She heard Harper inhale deeply.  "Yeah, yeah, I'm sure.  Thanks though."

"Okay then, I'll see you later."  She began to turn around.  Harper lifted his hand at her in a half-wave.  She turned completely around, nearly tripping over the small figure that had been beneath her.  "Oh!  Oh, Agrona, I'm sorry; I didn't see you there."

Harper's ears perked up at the sound of that name.  "It's okay, Ms. Valentine," replied Agrona, kindly.  "I was just gonna talk to Harper."

Beka nodded at her and began to leave, but stopped in the doorway.  She wanted to see why Harper was so freaked out by that little girl.  "Hi, Harper," greeted Agrona.  Harper did not move nor respond.  He simply stared at the table in front of him.  "You know," continued Agrona, "that's the same part that you were looking at two hours ago.  Is there something wrong with it?"

Harper squeezed his eyes shut.  'Get away from me, little god dammed demon,' he thought, fighting every urge in his body to scream it at her.  "Yeah, there is."

Agrona walked up behind Harper, so that she was not even a foot from his turned back.  "But you weren't working on it earlier.  You were pacing around the room."

'Little god dammed demon,' he thought again.  "I was a little stressed about it, okay?" he replied, shortly.

Agrona approached him and placed her small hands on his back.  Harper froze; her hands were like two red-hot irons pressing into his skin.  How could someone who made him feel so cold whenever she came too close also burn him?

Harper bit his tongue, not allowing himself to cry aloud.  If anyone heard him, they would force him to tell them everything, and he couldn't do that to them . . .

His eyes welded up with tears.  The heat was searing through his shirt and scorching his skin.  He could literally _feel_ the heat coming from her fingers.  "A-Agrona?" he stammered.

"Yeah?" she replied, pressing even harder onto his back.

"Is-is there some reason you w-wanted to talk to-to me?"

"Umm, oh no.  No reason."  Agrona released her hands from his back.  "Bye."  She turned around and walked out of the room, not noticing Beka, who was leaning against the wall outside of the Machine Shop.

Beka watched Agrona walk down the hallway and round the corner, out of sight.  She peeked in through the open doors and looked at the engineer.  She gasped at what she saw; Harper's shirt had two large burns etched into the fabric, where Agrona's hands had been.

She wanted to ask what had happened, but jumped back as the doors slid shut.  Beka pressed her hand against the doors.  What the hell had just happened?  Was Harper right about Agrona?  No, it was impossible; Agrona was just a little girl.  The marks on his shirt must've gotten there when Harper was on Mykenae.  Yeah, that was it.

Beka turned and began to walk away from the doors.  She shook her head.  Harper's paranoia was spreading to her . . .

Or was he being paranoid?

_To Be Continued . . ._

A/N: Okay, there's chapter five . . . now review, please.


	6. Chapter Six

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to "Andromeda" or its characters. I am simply borrowing them, I swear! 

A/N: Thanks for the reviews!

Title: "The Girl Who Hated All"

Summary: When the Andromeda comes across a very strange young girl, they have no choice but to allow her to come with them. But when strange events begin to occur, there is only one suspect, and they can't seem to get rid of her . . .

Genre: Supernatural/Horror

Rating: PG-13 for language and supernatural occurrences.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

**Chapter Six**

Harper rubbed at his back. He could already feel the burns begin to scab over, but they still were hot to the touch. Harper began to yawn, but snapped his mouth closed, in an attempt to cut off the yawn. He knew that he needed a good rest, but after all of this time spent reading The Book, The Wrath of Whirling, he wasn't about to give up now.

He stood up off of the stool he had been sitting on and was hit with an intense head rush. He stumbled a bit, shaking his head to rid himself of the dizziness. He blinked his eyes a few times; the Andromeda seemed to be rocking back and forth, and the movement of the Machine Shop was making him slightly nauseous.

The ship suddenly lurched forwards, and Harper felt himself lose his balance and begin falling down towards the floor . . .

. . . but no, it was no longer the floor; it was a deep abyss that catapulted into a deep, dark nothingness. Harper's eyes grew wider and he waved his arms about frantically. "No no no no," he whispered, repeating that one word over and over.

He was falling. He looked down into the abyss; it seemed to grin up at him menacingly, because it knew, it knew . . .

. . . it knew Harper's fear. It knew that once his balance gave out, he would be completely gone. Gone. The word stuck in Harper's mind. Gone. His stomach flip-flopped at the mere thought of it. Finally, his balance completely gave in, and he fell down into the mouth of the abyss . . .

. . . he was sent sprawling onto the machine shop's cool, metal floor. He grunted as his body hit the ground; all of the wind had been knocked out of him. Harper did not move. What was the point? His eyes were squeezed tightly shut. God, he wanted, needed, to go to sleep, but no! What he really needed was to make sure that Agrona did not get at the book. If she did-Harper didn't even want to think about what could happen.

He sighed, pushing himself back up into a standing position. He staggered a bit, grasping onto the table as he regained his balance. His back was burning like Hell, and now he felt as though his ribcage had collapsed. He rubbed his arm absently over his chest.

Harper's head snapped towards the door as footsteps began to approach . . . and then fade into the distance. He ran a hand through his blond hair. "What is wrong with me?" he asked himself, slumping down onto a stool. He placed his hand on the cover of the book, soaking in all of the power, the evil, the destruction. It amazed him as well as terrified him.

His eyelids began to slide closed. He lowered his head onto the table and buried his face in his arms. "Just . . . a rest," he said in between yawns. A sense of mirth overtook him as he drifted off into a small doze. Just . . . a rest. Nothing more. His body rose and fell with each even breath.

Suddenly, his eyes snapped open at the sound of an ear-pitching scream. His head rose and he glanced towards the door. That scream . . . had it, had it been . . . real? Or just another figment of his imagination? He shook his head. "No, it couldn't have been real," he decided.

But there it was again; the shrill scream of a person in pain. No, not just some person: a woman. "Beka?" he said, nervously, rising from his seat. He started towards the door.

As Harper entered the hallway, he called again: "Beka?" He walked down the hallway, a little boy trying to find his mother in a large crowd. "B-Beka?" It had sounded a lot like her, although Harper could not recall hearing her scream in such a way before.

There it was again: that scream. There was no doubt in Harper's mind that it wasn't Beka. He took off into a sprint, towards where he believed the screams were coming from: the main deck.

He passed through the doors, into the main deck. What he saw sent his heart racing and his breathing into the same form as someone having a severe asthma attack: Agrona was standing over Beka's gnarled body. Agrona was grinning madly, her green eyes flashing at Harper wildly.

Harper stumbled back a few steps, grasping at his chest. In Agrona's arms was The Book. The red hexagon was just barely visible over her arm. "W-Wha? H-How?" Harper stammered, looking from the gleaming eyes of Agrona to Beka's still body.

He began to tremble uncontrollable, shaking his head. "No, no, n-no." He backed up quickly, slamming his back against the wall. The sudden shock of the pressure against his burn wounds causing him to cry aloud.

He slunk down into a crouching position. His head was buried deep in his arms, but he continued to shake his head. Was it possible? Did Agrona win? Was it all his fault?

"Harper . . ?" Harper froze. The voice had sounded like Beka. But it wasn't possible. She was . . . gone, right? "Harper, what's wrong?" He felt two hands land on his shoulders and give them a small squeeze. His head flew up and he looked into Beka's confused eyes. "Seamus, what's the matter with you?" she asked, the question coming out a little harsher than she had hoped.

Harper stared at her, then glanced back at the spot where she had been lying; Agrona was gone. "Beka, you're alive!" he gasped, throwing his arms around her shoulders. "Oh, my God," he mumbled, releasing his arms from her. "I-I saw . . . you were-oh God." He rubbed at his temple. "I don't know . . ."

Beka offered Harper a hand; he accepted it and she pulled him to his feet. "You look terrible," she said, placing a hand on his forehead. "No fever. How long has it been since you've gone to sleep?"

Harper shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know; a day or two . . . or three," he added, quietly.

"Three days?" repeated Beka, raising her eyebrows. "Harper, go to Med Deck and, for the love of God, go to sleep." She looked into Harper's bloodshot, tired eyes. "Please?" she added, a hint of pleading in her voice.

Harper thought about her request. Sure, he really wanted to go to sleep. He sure as hell needed it, but if he did, well . . . He shook his head. "No, that's okay, I'll just go to my room to go to sleep, okay?" He gave her a small grin.

Beka looked down at the engineer. "All right, but you'd better get some rest. You can't afford not to sleep."

"Right, Mom," he shot back, rolling his eyes. Man, he hated being treated like that. He hated it with a passion, but, at that moment, he couldn't care either way; he really needed to get to the Machine Shop and get The Book before Agrona did. "Okay, g'night," he said, turning around and walking out of the main deck out into the hallway.

As soon as the doors shut, Harper sprinted off towards his shop. He reached it in a matter of minutes, and went through the doors. He breathed a sigh of relief; The Book was still there on his table. He walked up to the table and picked it up.

But there was something wrong. His eyes narrowed. The Book was warm to the touch, and he knew that it couldn't have been his own body heat that had warmed it. "Oh no," he moaned. Could that girl (and he used the word "girl" loosely) have gotten into the shop, read over whatever spells she needed, and left? Harper assumed that it was possible. After all, she was some sort of a demon, so memorizing a spell should have been no problem for her.

Harper turned on his heel and left the machine shop. He figured that Beka and/or Dylan was monitoring him to make sure that he went to bed. He rolled his eyes. "Why can't they just leave me alone?" he asked himself, walking down the hall to his quarters.

As soon as the doors slid shut behind him, Harper dropped The Book onto his bed. "Andromeda, privacy mode on," he commanded, sitting down on his bed and flipping open The Book.

As soon as he opened it, he slammed it shut. What was he doing? There was no way of figuring out what spell Agrona looked up, if she had gotten to The Book at all. He sighed in aggravation and (gently) laid down on his back.

Harper stared at the ceiling for, what seemed like, hours, days even. It all seemed so unreal, like it was all a dream that he would soon wake up from and begin laughing at himself for ever thinking that there was such thing as a "Demon Child." He waited patiently in the dark for some kind of sign that would prove to him that none of this was real . . .

. . . nothing. So it was real. All of it; the fear, the spells, The Book, Agrona . . . all of it was real. Deathly real. "Great," he murmured, rubbing his exhausted eyes. Finally, his body gave out, and Harper fell into a deep, deep sleep . . .

"What do you think is wrong with him?" Dylan asked Beka. They were both in the Observation Deck. Beka was staring through the window, immersed in thought and still puzzled about Harper's behavior earlier. And what he had said: "Beka, you're alive!" Why would he think that she was dead?

She snapped out of her thoughts and looked at Dylan. "Huh?" she asked.

"I said, what do you think is wrong with him?" he repeated.

"I have no idea. Exhaustion, probably." Beka shook her head. "But he seemed so, you know . . ."

"-terrified," Dylan finished, nodding. "But why? Do you think this is about Agrona again?"

"Well . . ." Beka paused. She was ready to say no, but the idea made her pause. Agrona did seem to freak him out, but why? She was just a little girl, nothing more, right? But what she had seen earlier, when Agrona had placed her hands on Harper's back, she still couldn't make sense of it.

"I don't know," she said, finally. Beka was beginning to wonder if there was something extraordinary about Agrona, and what that book Harper had been obsessing over in the Machine Shop was . . .

Harper slept, but a restless sleep nonetheless.  What he had seen, Beka lying in a pool of her own blood, Agrona grinning wildly, would not leave his mind, even in sleep.  He tossed and turned under the sheets, wanting none of it to be real . . . none of it.

As he flipped over to his left side, his hand smashed against the wall.  He awoke with a start, nursing his hand gently.  He sat upright in his bed, staring at the dark wall ahead of him.  He was slightly glad that he had woken up.  Sleep wasn't healthy for his sanity at the moment.

He sat in the darkness, listening only to the sound of his raspy breathing . . . and the footsteps that were pacing behind his bedroom door.  He sucked in his breath, not wanting to make any noise in case it was who he thought it was.

The footsteps walked back and forth in front of his door.  Back and forth.  Back and forth.  Harper stared at the crack below the door; he could see a shadow of a person pacing, but he couldn't tell who it was.  But he didn't need to.  He knew who it was, and it made the hairs on the back of his neck rise.

She was waiting for him.  Waiting patiently for him to leave his room, and then she'd place a curse on him where he'd die a slow and painful death.  He shuddered.  He knew that Agrona could do that, if she wanted to.

Back and forth.  Back and forth.  Harper stared at the moving shadow, waiting for it to leave, although he had a feeling that it wouldn't.

Humming.  Agrona had begun humming.  What was the tune?  He couldn't tell, but he didn't want to.  'Leave!' he shouted at her in his mind.  'God damn it, LEAVE!'

_No._

Harper's body gave a quick jolt.  He had heard Agrona's voice . . . in his mind?  No, there was no way.  Right?  Just his imagination going at it again.  Ha ha.  Agrona in his mind.  Ha ha.

_I'll never leave._

Harper's eyes widened.  The voice, it was there again.  Or his imagination was doing it again.  Ha ha.  It almost got him that time, but there was no way she could get into his subconscious.  Right?

_I'll stay forever and ever . . ._

Harper swallowed.  It wasn't his mind, he was sure of it this time.  Agrona was listening to his thoughts.  His _thoughts_.  'Oh, my God,' he thought, crossing his arms tightly.  'Oh my God . . . she's in my mind.'

_I'll never leave.  I'll stay out here forever until you come out.  Come out.  We'll play a game._

'No, no, NO!' he thought.  'Get out of my head!  Damn you, get out!'

_No.  I like it here.  You're going crazy . . ._

'No I'm NOT!' he thought, his hands flying to his head.  '_You're_ making me _seem_ crazy.'

There was a giggle.  _Silly, no I'm not.  They all think that it's _you._  And that's whose opinions matter, right?  Your crew members, they all think you're going crazy._

'I don't care; once I _kill you_, you little shit, they'll see that I was right.'  He grinned despite himself.  The thought of Agrona dying was a wonderful thought.

_Kill me?  KILL me?  You can't kill me, Harper.  I could kill _you_ now if I wanted to, but I don't.  Not right now.  I'm enjoying seeing you suffer._

'Get out of my HEAD, you _demon_!' he screamed inside his head.  'Get the hell OUT!'

Agrona giggled in his head, but her voice did not come back.  He looked at the shadow that had been outside of his door; it was gone.  There had been no departing footsteps, nothing.  They were just . . . gone.

"Oh, my God," he murmured.  "I _am_ going crazy."  He drew in a shaky breath.  "Someone help me," he whispered, his voice cracking.  "Someone _help_ me."

In his mind, he could see her killing his crew, his friends.  Their blank eyes staring up at him, saying, "How could you let this happen?  It's _your_ fault.  _Your_ fault . . ."

His hands flew to his head again.  'My fault . . .' he thought, burying himself in his arms.  'My fault.  Someone, for God sakes, _help_ me . . .'

_To Be Continued . . ._

A/N: If you read, please review!  That's all I have to say . . .


	7. Chapter Seven

Disclaimer: Okay, I can't think of a sarcastic comment to make so . . . I don't own "Andromeda" or any characters. The only one I _do_ own is Agrona.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! Sorry that I haven't updated in a really long time. Writer's block got to me.

Title: "The Girl Who Hated All"

Summary: When the Andromeda comes across a very young, and very strange, girl, they have no choice but to allow her to come with them. Harper soon discovers her secret; unfortunately, no one believes him . . .

Genre: Supernatural/Horror

Rating: PG-13 for language and supernatural occurrences.

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

Harper sat on his bed and leaned against the wall. Agrona's words were replaying in his mind over and over again: _I could kill _you_ now if I wanted to, but I don't. Not right now._

And that song she had been humming. He had definitely heard it somewhere before, when he had been a little boy. How had it gone again?

_Ring around a rosie_ . . .

Harper looked at the doorway. Agrona was in his mind again; he could _feel_ it. She was singing that old Earth folk tune in an eerily sweet voice.

'Get out, Agrona,' he thought desperately.

_A pocket full of posies . . ._

'Stop!' his mind screamed. He ran a hand through his hair, wishing for her voice to disappear.

_Ashes, Ashes . . ._

He shook his head, as though it would block Agrona's voice from his mind.

_We all . . ._

_Fall . . ._

_Down . . ._

Harper looked up; the voice had gone, but he could not shake away the feeling of utter horror at hearing Agrona's voice in his head.

Harper remembered how some of the people of Earth, before it had been taken over by Magog and Nietzscheans, of course, had joked that that song had secretly been about the Black Plague:

How "ring around the rosie" had signified first symptom: the round, red rash. How "a pocket full of posies" had signified the practice of carrying flowers and placing them around the infected person for protection. How "ashes" had been an imitation of the sneezing. And how, obviously, "we all fall down" signified the many deaths resulted from the plague.

Harper had truly never believed in any of the urban legends he had heard when he had been a child, but he now felt that the nursery rhyme "Ring Around the Rosie" _did_, in fact, represent death, in its finest form.

He stood up and walked towards the door. He pressed his ear against it, listening for any movement outside.

_S I L E N C E . . ._

The sheer quietness that he received upon putting his ear against the door was terrifying. It was as though there was nothing beyond the door; a dark, empty nothingness . . .

A shot of nervousness was sent up his stomach to his chest. 'Oh, God,' he thought, wetting his lips, 'What if . . . what if there _is_ no one out there? What if Agrona . . . _killed them all_?'

The mere thought of the possibility that Agrona had destroyed everything beyond his room made Harper actually _want_ to open the door. Just for a minute, to prove that it was all in his head; everything was still there, everyone was still alive. Still alive . . .

He took a deep breath. 'But what if she's standing there?' he thought. 'What if she's standing right there, waiting for me to open the door so that she can jump on me and place whatever curses she has on me and watch as I die slowly and painfully . . . and then everyone'll see me and then she'll kill them too . . .'

But he _had_ to open the door. _Had too_. He had to convince, prove to himself that everything beyond the door was okay.

He took hold of the doorknob and slowly turned the knob . . .

The door opened a sliver and Harper could see nothing but the empty hallway. He opened it further; more of the hallway came into view, but there was still no one around.

'Hey, maybe she's gone back to her room,' Harper thought, hopefully, standing up and opening the door the entire way.

Suddenly, a shooting pain was sent up his spine. He froze. He couldn't move; his entire body was paralyzed as it stood there in the doorway, but his mind was racing with regrets: 'What the hell was I thinking? Oh God oh God oh God I can't move . . . shit, shit, shit . . .'

His skin felt as though it was contracting. His muscles began to ache and throb. A pulse went racing through his head, pounding repeatedly in his ears.

_Ring around a rosie . . ._

His body swayed slightly, but stayed balanced. For a split second, Harper could have sworn that Agrona was standing right in front of him, her green eyes flashing at him, her mouth curled up in a menacing smile.

_A pocket full of posies . . ._

Another shock went flying up Harper's spine, causing his stiff body to give a slight jerk. 'Oh, God,' he thought. Everything was getting darker. And darker.

_Ashes, ashes . . ._

Darker . . . his eyes had begun to throb along with his head. He closed his eyes tightly.

_We all . . ._

His body loosened and he

_Fall_ . . .

fell limply to the floor.

_Down._

* * *

_'Oh, God,' he thought. 'What the hell _was_ that?' He was still lying on the ground; he could feel the hard, smooth surface below him. He moved to get up, to push himself into a standing position, and found that he could not._

_His body was still paralyzed. 'Oh great,' he thought, sarcastically. '_Now_ what do I do?'_

_His eyes glanced around the darkness, hoping to find some form of light that could tell him where he was. Some form of light that would tell him where someone would come in to look for him . . . someone like Agrona._

_He tried to swallow the knot that had formed in his throat and simply could not. His body refused to comply with any movements he commanded it to perform._

_His eyes danced wildly throughout the room. There _had_ to be some exit from . . . wherever he was, right? There was _always_ a way out, wasn't there?_

Not always . . ._ the voice in his head told him. _Sometimes people wait and wait and wait for someone to find them, to rescue them. But no one ever does. They just wait and wait and wait and-

_'STOP IT!' his mind screamed. 'Just STOP it, God damn it! . . . stop . . .' He thought the last word meekly, almost pitifully. He knew that the voice (that God damn _voice_) was right. Sometimes people are found and rescued, sometimes they stay where they are and die and rot and then, one day, someone finds them, but it is too late . . ._

_Harper inhaled deeply, and exhaled. 'Calm down, Harper,' he told himself. 'It's the _Andromeda_, remember? If someone wants to know where I am, they just ask Rommie.'_

_The thought relaxed him a bit, but his eyes continued to roam the dark room (was it even a room?) for any source of light. Any at all would tell him that he was safe._

_His eyes could not find any light at all. He was trapped in a (room?) place without doors or windows or any possible exit. Or at least an exit that was _lit_._

There's no exit, Harper,_ the voice told him_. You're going to be trapped in here with me forever. Forever and ever and ever-

_'Don't worry,' he told himself. 'It's the Andromeda, remember? The Andromeda is safe-'_

But how can you be so sure? _the voice asked._

_'I _know_ it's safe. I built nearly everything in it,' Harper replied, not realizing that he had replied to the voice (that God damn _voice_) in his head._

I mean, how do you know that that's where you are? _the voice asked. _How can you be so sure that you're in the Andromeda?

_'I have to be . . . I was just in my room with-' He cut off the rest of his thought. Agrona. Who knows where the hell she could have put him? He could even be in Hell, for all he knew._

Agrona could have put you anywhere, _the voice continued. _You could be dead, even. Just lying in your room, dead.

_Harper tried to shake his head, but failed. 'No, there's no way that I . . . died. Is there?'_

_The voice paused before answering. In his mind, Harper could picture the voice shrugging its nonexistant shoulders. _It's possible, isn't it? She has power to kill everyone around her. Why couldn't she have killed you when you were just lying there?

_'She . . . she _could_ have,' Harper thought. 'But she didn't, did she?'_

_Another pause. _I can't tell you that, _it said, finally._

_'Why?' Harper demanded, angrily. 'Why can't you tell me if I'm dead?!'_

Because,_ it said, simply._

_'Because _why_?' He wanted to scream it aloud, but knew that he could not._

Because . . ._ The voice paused and, for a moment, Harper was sure that it had disappeared. _Because she'll kill me, too.

_'What?' Harper said, confused. 'Kill you? How . . . who are you?'_

_Silence. The voice had disappeared, leaving Harper alone in the cold, dark (room?) place. He sighed deeply. What the hell was going on?_

_He closed his eyes and tried to relax. Maybe it was all a dream, a long, horrible dream. He would wake up and everyone would be standing over him, saying, "Oh Harper, are you okay? We believe you about Agrona!" Ha, that would be a laugh . . ._

_Harper felt his muscles untense and relax. He could feel a light pouring down upon his face. 'Oh, thank God,' he thought. 'Light.' Relief spreading over him, he opened his eyes . . ._

* * *

Harper's eyes slid open and he was greeted with a warm light emptying down onto his body. He used his arms to push himself into a sitting position. He rubbed at his eyes. How wonderful it felt to actually be able to use his limbs again.

He looked around his room, slightly surprised that there was no one around, saying stuff like, "What are you doing? Did you try to kill Agrona again? What is _wrong_ with you?" Or anything else in that ballpark.

He stood up and left his room; it was the _last_ place he wanted to be. Well, second-last, if you included wherever he had been earlier. Just thinking about it sent a chill up his spine. And who, what, was that voice? At first, he had thought that it was simply his conscious, or something like that, but now it seemed to be a . . . person. Someone _real_. Very real. And Agrona wanted to kill it, too.

Harper walked down the hallway silently, hoping that maybe, _maybe_, the voice would come back. He needed to figure out who it was. Maybe it knew more about Agrona. Maybe . . .

As he rounded a corner, Harper smacked directly into Dylan. "Mr. Harper, where have you been?" Dylan asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked Harper over.

"Oh, in my room," Harper replied, honestly. Hey, it was the truth, wasn't it?

Dylan nodded. "Are you feeling . . . okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, sure Boss. Why?"

"It's just that, lately, you've been a little . . . I don't know, different," Dylan replied.

"Oh, no, I'm fine. Just peachy. I've just been preoccupied lately. Don't worry about me, Boss." Harper began to walk past Dylan when Dylan grabbed a hold of his shoulder.

"Harper," he began, keeping Harper in place as he looked over his back. "What's-" He traced his finger along Harper's spine. As he did so, Harper could feel a slight stinging sensation. "-this?" Dylan finished, letting go of Harper's shoulder and allowing Harper to turn around.

"What-" Harper cleared his throat. "What's what, Boss?"

"This." Dylan lifted up his forefinger, and Harper saw a faint smudge of red (_blood_) on the tip of his finger.

"Umm . . ." Harper shrugged his shoulders and began to turn around again, wanting to get away from the current conversation.

"Wait," said Dylan, grabbing Harper's shoulder again. "You don't know where this came from?" he asked, looking into Harper's eyes seriously.

Harper shook his head. Again, the truth; he didn't know that he was _bleeding_. Had he really fallen _that_ hard?

"Turn around," instructed Dylan and Harper (reluctantly) did as he was told. Dylan gently lifted up the back of Harper's shirt . . . and quickly let it fall back into place. "Harper, go to Med Deck," he commanded.

"What? Why?" Harper could see the concern (_fear?_) in Dylan's eyes and it made him even more nervous.

"Just go. Now!" Harper nodded and walked quickly down the hall towards Med Deck, leaving Dylan standing alone, the same look of concern (_fear?_) in his eyes.

Harper walked quickly down the hallway. As he neared the Med Deck, he gently slid his hand up the back of his shirt until he felt something on his fingers. He removed his hand and looked at it; the tips were coated with fresh blood. His eyes widened and he wiped his fingers off on the leg of his pants.

He walked into Med Deck, where Trance was setting up an examining table. "Hello Harper," she greeted. "What's wrong?" she added, upon seeing the look (_fear?_) in his eyes.

"Dylan told me to come here," Harper replied, trying to sound calm and unknowing. "Apparently I'm bleeding, or something . . ." He waved a hand as if to say, _Nothing _too_ serious._

Trance gave him a small smile. "Okay, lie down here, then," she instructed, gesturing towards the examining table.

Harper did as instructed and laid down on his stomach. "Now, where did he say you were-"

"-my back," interrupted Harper. He had to know why he was bleeding. His stomach was knotted because of the anxiety.

"Okay." Trance gently lifted up his shirt . . . and gasped. "H-Harper," she stammered. "Where d-did this come fr-from?"

"What do you mean?" he asked, suddenly crossing the line from nervous to completely scared.

"Did you fall, or-"

"Trance, what's _wrong_?" Harper's heart was pounding madly in his chest. What had that little bitch done to him? He leaped up off of the examining table and walked swiftly over to the opposite side of the room, where a mirror-type object had been installed.

Harper took a deep breath and turned around. What he saw nearly made him black out again; on his back, scratched deep into his skin, was the word _Iluzija_. Red droplets dripped down from each letter, causing it to glisten at him menacingly.

"Harper?" Trance asked, quietly. "What is-?"

Harper did not hear the rest of her question. He bolted from the Med Deck and sprinted down the hallway towards his room, the place where he would be able to talk to the Voice. The Voice who knew something he did not. The Voice who feared Agrona as Harper did.

But Harper knew that, in order to talk to the Voice, he would have to go back to the (_room?_) Place. The Place without light. The Place without life.

_To Be Continued . . ._

A/N-I hope that it was worth the wait. :-) Anyways, please review! Thanks to all who do!!


	8. Chapter Eight

Disclaimer: Let's see . . . I'm fifteen years old, I don't have my own car, and I'm going to Burger King after my prom this weekend. Yeah, I own "Andromeda." Ha, ha.

A/N: After finishing Chapter Seven, I just had to keep writing, to sort of explain all of the stuff that's happening with Agrona, The Book, etc. So, enjoy and please, _please_ review! Love ya!

Title: "The Girl Who Hated All"

Summary: When the Andromeda comes across a very young, and very strange, girl, they have no choice but to allow her to come with them. Harper soon discovers her secret; unfortunately, no one believes him . . .

Genre: Supernatural/Horror

Rating: PG-13 for language and supernatural occurrences.

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

Harper ran down the hallway, towards his bedroom. He could literally feel his nerves rattling excitedly in his stomach. God, he did not want to go back to that (_room?_) Place, but he had to. He knew that something, or someone, was there in the darkness. Someone that (maybe) could help him.

But help him do what, exactly? Kill Agrona? Get everyone to believe him? What exactly did he want?

He arrived at his bedroom and stared at the closed door. Who had closed it? He couldn't remember closing it after leaving the room earlier. Something was in there, waiting. Waiting.

_Iluzija . . ._

He could feel warm blood trickling down his back. '_Iluzija,_' he thought. 'What does that mean? And who put it . . . there?' he asked himself, grimacing slightly at the memory of what he had seen in the mirror; the letters had been etched in so deeply, how could he not have felt it?

He shook his head, clearing his mind, for the time being. He glanced to his right, and then to his left, to be sure that no one was around to drag him back to Med Deck . . . there was no one; just a quiet, empty hallway.

Harper took a deep breath and opened the door. His room appeared to be exactly as he left it: the covers flung messily over the bed, the light off . . . nothing had moved.

He stepped inside and looked around the room for something, anything, out of the ordinary. He looked down at the floor where he had fallen and saw something shiny glistening back up at him. He stooped down and reached his index finger out to touch it . . .

He felt something cool and wet on the floor. He knew exactly what it was the moment he touched it: blood. _His_ blood. Whatever carved that word (_Iluzija)_ on his back definitely did it when he had blacked out earlier.

Harper groaned inwardly. "Come _on_," he muttered, irritated. "Of course when I _want_ to talk to the Voice, I can't. But it can happen all it wants when I don't know what the hell is going on."

He stood up, rubbing at his temple. He could feel the effects of his slow blood-loss already; he was feeling slightly dizzy. The light coming from the hallway was fading from bright to dark . . . and then back to bright again.

'Wait,' he thought, 'maybe _that's_ why it's not working. I need to be in complete darkness.' He stepped towards the door and closed it. He took a step back and waited for

_Iluzija Iluzija Iluzija_

something to happen. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. It was as though he was waiting for his death to arrive; only it seemed so much more terrifying.

_Završetak . . ._

Harper jumped at the sound of the Voice. 'What?' he thought. 'What did you say?'

_Završetak,_ it said again, clearer this time. _Do you really want to know?_

'I-' Harper paused in his reply. 'Know what?'

_Sve_, replied. _Everything._

Harper nodded. 'Yeah, I want to know it all. Everything. _Sve_.'

Another shot of pain went flying up Harper's spine, causing his body to stiffen once again . . . and then fall soundlessly to the floor. _You shall know everything._

* * *

Do you know what Agrona is? _the Voice asked._

_"Yeah," Harper replied. "She's a frikin' demon, is what she is!"_

No,_ the Voice snapped. _She is not a demon. She is a _gatara_, a sorceress. She was brought up this way by her mother and father. Her mother tried to teach her to use her powers for good, to help people on her planet, but after she left, the father taught Agrona how to use her powers for evil.

_"Wait, why did her mother 'have' to leave?" Harper asked._

I'll get to that later. Now, do you know what the language _Serbian_ is? _The Voice paused, signaling to Harper that it was not a rhetorical question._

_"Umm, it sounds familiar . . ."_

It is an old Earth language. From the country Serbia.

_"An old _Earth_ language?" repeated Harper. His mouth would have been hanging agape if he had not been immobile. "But . . . how?"_

Mykenae was first populated by people from Earth, if you can believe it,_ the voice replied, sounding calmer than it had at the beginning of the conversation._ And the people from Earth happened to speak Serbian.

_"Than, is that why she chose _me_ to hate? To want to kill more than anyone else on the Andromeda?"_

Slow down, slow down. We shall come to that in time. _There was silence until the Voice continued its story. _When the people from Earth came to the planet of Mykenae, they began to . . . change. Something in Mykenae's atmosphere was alien to the people who had arrived. And they changed. Some changed on the outside, physically; their eyes became brighter, their skin's color faded, and their hair became so brittle that if one was to simply touch it, it would crumble and fall off.

_The Voice paused, letting Harper take in all of the information, and then continued. _But others changed not on the outside, but inside. They began to have _pesnièki genijes_, or muses, if you will. In these muses, they saw themselves killing everyone around them, but, in these muses, they had not laid but a finger on the other persons. They had done it simply by chanting a simple _odmor_, or spell:

_The Voice began to recite the spell in an eerily smooth tone: Svi æe umreti. Svi æe trpiti. Svi æe tražiti milosrðe napamet. _Which means, "All shall die. All shall suffer. All shall seek pity from me."

_"And what, exactly, did the spell do?" Harper asked, although he believed that the answer was pretty obvious._

It killed. At the beginning, there had been nine people living on the planet. In the end, there were only two: a man and a woman, which is how the planet got populated. Harper, _the Voice added, its tone dropping to a deeper pitch,_ if there is one thing to remember, it is the beginning of that spell. It is the only spell that begins with those three words: _Svi æe umreti. _If you hear Agrona beginning to recite that spell, all you have to do is say, _Craft the spell in the fire; Craft it well; Weave it higher-"_

_"-_Weave it now of shining flame; None shall come to hurt or maim. None shall pass this fiery wall_," Harper began to recite the poem along with the Voice, "_None shall pass, no, none at all. _I've heard that before."_

_There was silence. The Voice seemed to be either shocked by what Harper had said or it wanted Harper to continue._

_"On Mykenae, I heard it, well, _saw_ it, written on a tree. And I read it . . . I don't know how I remembered that . . ."_

Harper, _the Voice said, suddenly, _did anything happen upon reading that poem. A flash of light or-?"

_"Yeah, actually, there was this . . . weird flash of red light. What . . . what was it?"_

You have been blessed. Agrona cannot kill you with The Spell. Not _that_ spell, at least. But the blessing will wear off, Harper.

_"In how long? How long do I have until it wears off?" Harper asked, hurriedly._

I do not know. Days, weeks, maybe it has already worn off, I do not know, _it said again_. And there is no _real_ way to see if it has worn off. The amount of time varies per person.

_"Okay, so should I just recite the poem again? Then I'd know for sure-"_

No!_ The Voice nearly screamed the word at him. _No,_ it said again, calmer this time. _You cannot recite the poem more than once. If you do, your death will be worse than if Agrona had placed The Spell upon you.

_"But, I just recited it before; nothing happened _then_," Harper argued._

In order to be blessed, one must say the _entire_ poem, not just the last three lines, _the Voice explained, sounded flustered. _Harper, listen to me; Agrona's desire to have you dead is increasing each moment. She loves to torture others, but she will become bored with that soon. And if you do not watch her at every minute, she will kill you. And, believe me, there is no heaven after she kills you. There is no light at the end of the tunnel. There is something more horrible than you could ever imagine. But if you do not keep a close watch on her, you will not have to imagine the horror, you will have it.

_Harper took in the Voice's words, feeling the hairs on his arms rising and beads of sweat forming on his hairline. _Now, _the Voice continued, _you wanted to know about Agrona's mother and why she had to leave?

_Harper tried to swallow, but found that he could not. "No," he said. "No, I think that I could understand why she left. Her child and husband were evil."_

That was part of it, yes, but another reason was to learn more about The Spell. She wanted to find a counter curse for it. Something to spare the lives of those who received The Spell. And she succeeded. But as soon as she discovered the poem that could reverse The Spell, Agrona used The Spell against her. And before she died, she inscribed the poem upon a tree. And, unfortunately, only two people have ever read that poem. That would be you, Harper . . . and me.

_"But, who _are_ you?" Harper asked, nervously. "Who are you and how do you know so much about this?"_

I am Fearghas. And I am the original inhabitant of Mykenae. I am the one who killed the others. I am the creator of The Spell.

_Harper gasped suddenly, feeling himself being pulled back into reality. Warm light splashed onto his face and he bolted upright . . ._

* * *

Harper's eyes snapped open and he saw that he was sitting on the floor of his room. "Oh, my God," he whispered, clutching at his back. It felt as though it was on fire. His shirt was damp from the spilt blood and he felt even dizzier than he had before.

He stood up and was immediately thrown off-balance. The rapid blood loss had caught up to him. He reached out for the door and threw it open. He staggered out into the hallway, bent over slightly, his hand upon his burning back.

'I gotta get to Med Deck,' he thought. He was using the wall to keep him upright by leaning his left shoulder against it as he stumbled down the hallway. He rounded a corner . . .

And saw Agrona standing about three feet away from him, a smile plastered upon her face, but pure wickedness shining in her eyes. "Hi there, Mr. Harper," she said, cheerfully.

"H-Hey Agrona," Harper replied through gritted teeth. He tried to hold back a cough and grimaced at the rusty taste of blood that the cough brought up with it.

"What's wrong, Mr. Harper?" she asked, the same sweet smile upon her face, the same wicked look in her eyes. "Why are you walking so funny?"

Harper opened his mouth to reply, but all that came out was a hacking cough . . . and the horrid taste of blood.

"Are you okay? You're coughing a lot . . . and bleeding." Harper took a step back from Agrona. The way her eyes had flashed when she had said the word "bleeding" . . . it was inhumane.

"I know," Harper replied, taking a step to the right. "I fell down. I'm going to Med Deck right now."

Agrona took a step to her left, blocking Harper's way. "Are you? That's good. Trance'll get you all fixed up." Her eyes became smaller and her smile faded slightly. "We wouldn't want you to die. Not like this. That'd be _baaaaaad_."

Harper took another step to the left and, as quickly as he could, walked straight ahead. Agrona did not make to cut him off again, but as soon as he got past her, he began to cough . . . and cough . . . and cough . . .

He stopped walking and, doubled over, continued to cough. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Agrona standing there . . . smiling.

He brought his hand up to his mouth, trying to sustain the coughing fit that had come over him. He brought his hand away and saw red (_blood_) covering his palm.

He stood upright. The coughing fit had ended, but he could feel the blood slowly draining from him. He continued to stagger down the hallway towards Med Deck. He turned his head and took one last look at Agrona.

"We wouldn't want you to die, Mr. Harper," she said, the same sweet smile upon her face, the same evil look in her green, green eyes. "Not yet. That'd be _baaaaaad_." Harper picked up his pace and continued to walk down the hallway.

Finally, he arrived at Med Deck. "_Harper_." He barely heard Trance call out his name as he entered the room. Everything had gotten dark (_like the Place_) and quieter.

"_Harper, are you okay? Lie down . . ."_ He staggered over to an examining table and climbed onto it. Without thinking, he laid down on his back and

_Oh God Oh God, my back is on F I R E! Oh shit, God, make it stttopppp . . ._

shouted out in pain. His own voice sounded so distant, so faraway. He quickly flipped over on his stomach.

"_Harper, is it your back again? Here, let me see . . ." _Trance lifted up Harper's shirt. She grimaced slightly, but remained composed. She grabbed some gauze and quickly applied pressure to Harper's cuts (_slashes_) in hopes of stopping the bleeding.

Harper's body jerked as soon as the gauze touched his cuts (_slashes_) and cried out in pain. "_Harper, Harper, shh, it's okay."_

'No, it's not, Trance. There's a killer on board and she wants to kill me kill me kill me, God, why won't anyone _help me_?' His mind was racing; all he could think about was Agrona, smiling at him, smiling at his pain, smiling . . .

Trance removed the gauze that she had been using and grabbed another piece. There was so much blood, she did not know how so much could still be coming out . . . the cuts (_slashes_) weren't _very _deep; not deep enough to cause so much to come out. Even _she_ did not understand what was happening.

"T-Trance," Harper groaned, turning his head slightly to look over at her.

"_What is it, Harper?_"

"Do you know what _Svi æe umreti_ means?"

Trance stared at him, puzzled. "_I . . ._" She shook her head. "_No, what does it mean?_"

Harper shook his head as well. "Just . . . if you hear _someone_ saying it . . . stop them."

"_Stop them? How, why?_"

"Just promise me you will."

She nodded, but was still confused by Harper's request. "_Okay, I wi-_"

The rest of her promise was cut off; Harper closed his eyes and was enveloped by darkness.

_Don't forget, _Harper, the Voice said_. Don't forget _Iluzija.

_"I won't forget. I won't forget. _Illuzija. Iluzija._"_

_Never forget it. Your life is dependent on it. _Iluzija.

_"I'll never forget it. I won't." _Harper's thoughts were shut off as he slipped into a deep form of unconsciousness.

* * *

"Trance, what did you call me for?" Dylan asked as he entered Med Deck. "Does it pertain to Harper by chance?"

"Actually, it does," replied Trance. "You sent him here earlier. Did you see what was . . ." She paused, throwing a quick glance to where Harper's body was lying. The bleeding had ceased, but there was still something amiss, and she could not figure out what it was. ". . . what was on his back?"

Dylan nodded. "Yes, that was why I sent him to you. He could not have, well, _would_ not have, done that to himself, so how did it get there?"

"I don't know. There doesn't appear to be any knife incisions. But-" She shook her head in confusion. "-I don't know, there's something . . . different, wrong, with him. The marks will go away, but there's something . . ."

". . . different about him," Dylan finished, to which Trance nodded. "I know, but I can't figure out what it is. How is he?"

"He's unconscious for the time being," Trance replied. "I don't know when he'll wake up, but he's stable."

"Well, when he wakes up, alert me so that we can figure out just what is wrong with Mr. Harper," Dylan instructed. Trance nodded again and he turned and left the room, looking quickly over at Harper's unmoving body. Trance was (of course) right; something was terribly wrong with Harper.

As he exited the room, Dylan thought about that word that had been inscribed upon Harper's back. _Iluzija_, was that what it said? If so, what did it mean? And why had someone cut (_slashed_) it into Harper? Why Harper?

His mind was filled with unanswered questions. Questions, he assumed, would remain unanswered until Harper awoke. And when he did, would Harper even be willing, or able, to tell them the answers? And would they want to hear them?

_To Be Continued . . ._

A/N: Chapter Eight is finished! I'm so happy! Ahem . . . anyways, as always, please review. And I must give credit where credit is due (again): I got the main idea to use Serbian as Agrona's language after learning about Serbia in my History class. Blah, blah, blah, again, please review! Thanks all!


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